Amalgamation
by Jules8
Summary: SG-1 find themselves caught up in a planet's deadly secret.


STARGATE SG1 - AMALGAMATION  
  
  
By Julia Reynolds  
Julia@wrenlea.demon.co.uk  
  
DISCLAIMER:   
"Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/ Viacom,  
MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. This story has  
been written for entertainment purposes only and no money whatsoever has  
exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original  
characters, situations, and story are the property of the author. Not to  
be archived without permission of the author."  
  
  
  
PART ONE  
  
  
  
'If we are alive, are we not entitled to freedom? What gives any being  
the right to shackle another, caring little for their right to be free?  
On what basis do you make these decisions? On what basis do you have  
the right to call yourself a God?'  
  
  
  
oOo  
  
The darkness was stifling. Strange colors, strange glistening hues, lit  
briefly by their flashlights, soaked the walls of the giant cavern. A  
dampness. A feeling of age, of a history ingrained within the roughened  
surface of the stone. A feeling of immense oppression, and of despair.   
  
Daniel couldn't shake the feeling. He gazed around him, his eyes  
drinking in the sight, the sound of gently trickling water against the  
far side distracting him for a moment. He flicked his flashlight up and  
walked forward, a step behind Sam Carter as she took readings and  
searched the cavern with eyes more trained than his to look for signs of  
danger.  
  
"Okay, boys and girls, what've we got?" O'Neill's cheerful voice broke  
the silence, sending an echo around the chamber, breaking into Daniel's  
morbid thoughts, an assault on his solitude.  
  
"It's pretty much as the MALP recorded, sir. Fresh oxygen atmosphere,  
so there has to be some sort of entrance somewhere, refreshing the  
supply," Sam replied, her voice authoritative, yet guarded. Daniel knew  
her well enough to know that she never committed to anything unless she  
was sure. Sam wasn't sure.  
  
She started forward, continuing to look down and monitor the readings.  
"No life signs in the vicinity, as we expected, but there's the writings  
to consider," she added as she reached the nearest wall and allowed her  
fingers to trace across the carvings hewn there. The rock felt hard,  
rough. The inscriptions hadn't been worn down much over time, they  
looked almost fresh, they could have been scratched out that very year,  
and yet the area around the Gate looked unused, deserted.  
  
Daniel took out his notepad and pencil and crouched into a comfortable  
position next to the nearest column of letters, his flashlight flicked  
into an upward position as he squinted through his glasses at the  
inscriptions. This was his thing. They could fight, solve physics  
problems and make strategic decisions. But when the writing was on the  
wall, who did they call for? Daniel smiled to himself, a satisfied  
smile, and settled down for the duration.  
  
Sam smiled gently, knowingly, as she turned to see him drop down next to  
the wall. She knew he would be in his own world now and decided it was  
best to leave him to it. Based on previous missions this could be a  
long process.  
  
"Carter, scout out the north side and see if you can find anything.  
Teal'c you check the south, behind the Gate. I'll keep a weather eye  
out here," O'Neill ordered as he set his pack down at the DHD. There  
was a feeling about the place he didn't like. He didn't usually go by  
hunches, but the feeling was something he felt he'd experienced before  
and it gave him the creeps just trying to remember it. Damn the  
writings. Trust Carter's inquisitive, persistent eyes. He wondered if  
General Hammond would have sanctioned a scouting party, if it hadn't  
been for something Carter had spotted on the MALP's video playback.  
Inscriptions, carvings. Signs of civilisation. He didn't like the idea  
of gating into a cave but, hey, what the heck, they'd done worse.   
  
Sam moved to the north of the Cavern, her flashlight picking out each  
crevasse, each change in direction of the mostly curved rough surface.  
She moved her hand slowly towards each crack, feeling for signs of air.  
If the air supply was through a small crack and the cavern was sealed  
then they'd take down as much of the inscriptions as they could and go  
home. A part of her, the intrepid explorer part, wanted to find a way  
through, and a part of her wanted to get back through the gate. She  
couldn't put her finger on what was wrong with the cave. Just that it  
wasn't right.  
  
And then she found something. A twist in the contour of the chamber,  
which was masked by its darkness. Hidden from sight, it was narrow but  
certainly passable. Sam could feel the gentle current of air as she put  
her face toward the crevasse, which now came into view. She was now out  
of sight of the others and out of sight of the gate. She weighed up  
going through it alone and then changed her mind.  
  
"Colonel! I've found something," she shouted as she returned to the  
chamber.  
  
"Teal'c, stay with Daniel," O'Neill barked as he jumped to his feet and  
moved towards the figure of his officer. "Okay, Carter, what's up?" he  
said as he reached her.  
  
"An entrance maybe," she said shrugging, as she led the way back to the  
crevasse. "The air supply is definitely coming through here. Whether  
there are more openings, I don't know. This one's passable with  
difficulty but it could lead to the surface," she said hopefully.  
  
O'Neill put his face to the cold air which was filtering through and  
sighed, looking at Carter's face, her expression of 'Hey, it's your  
call. Do we go or what?'   
  
O'Neill moved back into the chamber and looked over Daniel's shoulder,  
eyeing his scribbling and his intense gaze. He was lost in his own  
world, his own thoughts. O'Neill shook his head and smiled. He admired  
Daniel's tenacity. He just knew he wouldn't have the patience to try  
and unravel what was carved there. If anyone could, it had to be  
Daniel.  
  
"Daniel, you got anything for me?" he asked resting his hand on Daniel's  
shoulder to pull his attention to him.  
  
"Uh? Oh, sure...well actually not yet." Daniel pulled his eyes from his  
writing, reluctant self-sacrifice written all across his face. "Jack,  
I've only just scratched the surface. It's an ancient dialect, similar  
to Babylonian but there's some anomalies which don't add up," Daniel  
answered and then immediately returned to his notepad, his eyes dropping  
back to the page, his pencil racing.  
  
"He's gone," O'Neill muttered. Sam smiled to herself behind him  
  
"Teal'c, mind our friend, here. We're about to try a topside visit,  
maybe. Radio silence unless there's a problem. Understand?"   
  
Teal's understood but his eyes narrowed. He didn't like the chamber one  
bit. Not one bit. But he was a Jaffa, a warrior. His Commanding  
Officer was giving him an order. He wasn't about to disobey it, even  
though his heart yearned to be going to the surface if he could, just to  
get away from the stifling atmosphere.   
  
"I understand, Colonel O'Neill," came the muted response.  
  
Sam put her helmet back on and watched O'Neill do the same, then they  
moved back towards the rear of the chamber, shouldering their M-16  
rifles..  
  
"Teal'c doesn't like this place anymore than we do, sir," Sam commented  
as she flicked her hand flashlight on and shone it into the crevasse.  
  
"Yeah, well the sooner we leave this place won't be soon enough for me  
either, Captain," O'Neill replied, grimacing.  
  
"Shall I?" she asked, pointing her flashlight into the passage.  
  
"I think on this occasion, the ladies first rule is shelved, Captain,"  
O'Neill joked as he grabbed her flashlight and manoeuvred past her. He  
started to inch through the narrow space. He could feel every piece of  
rock, every jagged edge, poking into his ribs and every other part of  
his body. Carter's breath clearly echoed behind him as she inched her  
way through, keeping her eye firmly on the beam of light.  
  
The end of the crevasse opened out into another chamber, smaller than  
the previous one. The space was oppressive, the roof of the chamber  
low at this point.   
  
"Some kind of ante-room?" commented Sam. O'Neill shrugged and ran his  
hand along the surfaces again.   
  
"More inscriptions," he said as his fingers felt the finely carved  
lines. "Better not let Daniel in this one or we might as well make  
camp," he joked as he moved around the room, shining his flashlight into  
every corner. Sam turned to look behind them, to the passage and then  
took a step backwards. She pointed her flashlight at the wall.  
  
"Colonel," she said quietly and pointed the light for him to see what  
she could.  
  
"Jeez, what was this place?" he muttered as he moved in to look. Large  
rings in the wall, one on one side of the entrance to the passage and  
one on the other. A large bore chain hung redundant from one.  
  
Sam swallowed. "A holding cell of some sort?" she offered unhappily.  
  
"Sweet," was O'Neill's only comment. He swung his light upwards and  
pointed.  
  
Above the passageway, just tucked under the roof of the cavern about  
seven feet up, there was an obvious tunnel running along the top of the  
passageway back towards the Gate chamber.   
  
O'Neill shrugged, looking at Carter who gave him the same look. It was  
the only visible exit from the smaller chamber.  
  
"Looks like we've got some crawling to do, Captain," he said, his heart  
sinking. He didn't like this one bit.   
  
"I think ladies first on this, Colonel. Not much choice," Sam said with  
determination and positioned her rifle securely across her shoulders.  
  
O'Neill nodded reluctantly. He knew he had to leg her up there first.  
He cupped his hands and hoisted her foot upwards. She grabbed the ledge  
and hauled herself into the small tunnel.   
  
O'Neill jumped, his hands gripping the ledge and then he pulled himself  
up to follow her.  
  
The tunnel was small but smoother than the passageway, almost man-made  
in its design. There was no light source, just pure inky blackness.  
  
Sam crawled forward on all fours, her jacket flashlight her only means  
of keeping from bashing into the sides. On more than one occasion she  
was grateful for her helmet as her head came into contact with  
protrusions from above, strange dips in an otherwise, seemingly flawless  
surface.  
  
The air came cooler now, fresher somehow.   
  
"Whoa," she said as she rammed her shoulder hard up against the side of  
the tunnel, its sudden ninety degree turn, invisible in the small amount  
of light her flashlight offered.  
  
"You okay, Carter?"  
  
She nodded in the dark and mumbled a "Yes". Gee, she wished she hadn't  
done that, she thought as she reached up to massage the bruise.  
  
"I think we're moving away from the Gate chamber," she advised O'Neill  
who moved up closer behind her.  
  
"Any sign of life?"  
  
Sam shook her head, flicking her recorder nearer to her face to see it  
in the gloom. "Not so far. I.." and then she took in a breath.  
  
"There's something ahead, sir, not far from here. Life readings," she  
said, apprehension tingeing her voice. O'Neill could hear it and he  
didn't blame her.  
Having seen what he'd seen in the antechamber he wasn't sure he wanted  
to meet anyone who might be responsible.  
  
O'Neill flicked the radio to his mouth. "Teal'c, he hissed."  
  
"Yes, O'Neill." Teal'c's steady voice gave O'Neill a sense of comfort,  
knowing that his two friends were safely at the Gate should anything  
happen to any of them.  
  
"Got a feeling we're gonna be meeting some of the natives. How far's  
Daniel got?" he said.  
  
Daniel's voice echoed back through the radio into the stillness of the  
tunnel.  
  
"Jack, there's something here you've got to see," he said, and then he  
paused. "Where are you guys anyhow?"  
  
"Somewhere above you we think. What's up?"  
  
"Colonel, we've got company," Sam interrupted, her voice quiet, her hand  
resting gently on his arm.  
  
O'Neill swung around, his eyes fixed on the face which poked around the  
corner and eyed them with displeasure, the weapon it held pointed  
directly at them, the hum of what it was capable of discharging,  
dangerously close.  
  
oOo  
  
  
Daniel stretched his arms and massaged his neck and looked at the radio  
in despair. Perhaps they'd entered some sort of dead area for  
transmission. Damn it, he desperately needed to talk to his friends  
again.  
  
What he'd translated so far of the inscriptions made for heartbreaking  
reading. He felt vindicated that his initial assessment of the chamber  
was of oppression and despair. And yet it was so much more than that.  
It was a statement on a world, the like of which he'd not encountered  
before. Not even in their travels to other Goa'uld strongholds. It had  
been a few minutes since Jack had stopped transmitting. In that time  
he'd translated a final fragment of text, the majority of which he'd  
managed to decipher. It told him one important fact. A fact he needed  
his friends to know. A fact, which had made his heart sink.  
  
He picked up the radio and switched it to transmit again. He turned to  
speak to Teal'c and then noticed him scanning around the chamber, his  
staff weapon readied.  
  
"Daniel Jackson, we must conceal ourselves at once," he said and jumped  
down from the steps to the Gate.  
  
Daniel immediately gathered up his pencil and notepads and joined Teal'c  
in the far shadows at the back of the chamber. He'd long since stopped  
questioning Teal'c's sense of urgency. It had saved them on too many  
occasions.  
  
Daniel could feel Teal'c's tense body next to him. He could hear his  
steady breathing. He glanced up and watched the Jaffa's eyes stare  
intently at the far end of the cave.  
  
Teal'c put a finger to his own lips and kept his eyes fixed forwards.  
  
Small movements from the far side. A strange sound of scraping. Rock  
on rock. Then a moment filled with silence. Suddenly, two strange  
looking creatures came into view, weapons scanning the cave, and peered  
in their direction. Then they moved forwards. Daniel felt sure they  
couldn't be seen in the darkness. Nevertheless he instinctively  
attempted to make himself smaller somehow, withdrawing into the shadows.  
He put the radio slowly to his lips. If he had to, he could warn the  
others.  
  
  
oOo  
  
  
O'Neill's finger lifted slowly from the radio to hear Daniel's voice,  
urgent, warning.  
  
"Jack, Sam! You've got to get back. This whole place is..."  
  
The static, which ensued, filled the small space and made Sam's heart  
ache. O'Neill stared at their strange visitor and swallowed.  
  
  
"Guess we forgot our hall passes, Carter," was all he could think of  
saying.  
  
  
  
  
PART TWO  
  
  
  
Eyes, elongated, almost oval in shape with dark centres. There was an  
almost reptilian look to the man, which sent shivers down Sam's spine.  
Somewhere in there a human being dominated. Certainly the limbs seemed  
human enough in shape beneath the uniform. She felt hypnotised, spell  
bound by its eyes as it stared unblinking at them.   
  
They watched the man draw a hand across his mouth and then mutter  
something almost unintelligible into a small transmitter at his wrist.  
His other arm, slightly scaled in texture, held the weapon steady,  
always towards them, always with a clear shot if he wanted to use it.  
  
O'Neill caught Sam's eye and grimaced. She shot him a shrug and eyed  
the radio meaningfully.  
  
O'Neill nodded and brought it towards his mouth slowly. The man watched  
but made no effort to stop him.  
  
"Daniel," he hissed as he pressed the transmit button. For a minute  
they listened to the static hiss which was returned. Then a faint  
voice.  
  
"Jack? Where are you? Are you still on the move?"  
  
"Oh we're not going anywhere right, now," Jack replied, relieved to hear  
his voice.  
"You got company?" he asked, hoping for a negative.  
  
"Um..yes, as a matter of fact we do," Daniel replied warily. "Same as  
yours I expect?" The question was obviously rhetorical. "I think we're  
on our way to wherever you are. Jack, something's not right with all  
this. I found something out in the inscriptions. Needed to warn  
you...."  
  
The static resumed. Sam's heart sank and she prayed Teal'c and Daniel  
were keeping their heads.  
  
"Damn," Jack muttered as he clipped the radio back onto his jacket.  
  
The man suddenly moved, his speed taking them by surprise. He was  
between the two of them within seconds. With one hand he lifted Sam's  
weapon from her and pushed her forwards roughly. With the other he held  
his weapon at O'Neill's throat. O'Neill could feel the man's breath  
brush his cheek as he leant forward, his eyes fixed on his. O'Neill  
felt his own weapon being swiftly removed and watched as Sam moved out  
of his vision and down the side tunnel, on her hands and knees. Their  
visitor waved his weapon and pushed O'Neill after her.  
  
"Hey, watch your manners," O'Neill said as he moved along the surface.   
  
The smoothness of the surface was definitely man made he decided.  
Despite its smoothness it was dusty and hadn't been used for some time.  
Jack didn't know quite what to make of what he'd seen. A prison or  
holding cell of some sort outside the chamber which held the gate, and  
now this. Some sort of man-made tunnel leading to where? Not for the  
first time that day he wished Daniel were there to chew it over with.  
He could see Carter in front of him and then he saw light. Faint at  
first but within seconds it lit the tunnel.   
  
Suddenly they were clambering free of the tunnel and dropped some six  
feet to the ground below them, followed in an instant by the strange  
man, who was up within seconds, his weapon stuck in O'Neill's back, his  
other hand clasping Carter's shoulder and hauling her to her feet.  
  
The strange almost guttural voice began again as he walked them  
forwards.  
  
Sam looked around her in a mix of admiration and unease. The tunnel had  
come out into some sort of temple. Pillars of gold marble, encircled  
with elaborate carvings of what looked like scarabs, stood in pairs  
leading towards a single set of steps. Standing at the top of the  
steps, in a pose of solitary domination, a throne. It faced outwards  
towards the entrance to the Gate. The steps up to the throne were also  
carved from marble and shone, the throne itself being inlaid with more  
scarabs, their bodies entwined around the arms. Despite her misgivings  
about the place, Sam felt a sense of awe at the people who had built it,  
and she found herself drawn to its beauty and strange sense of purpose.  
It had a hypnotic quality, which she found hard to ignore. She turned  
to look at the entrance to the tunnel behind them and her eyes narrowed.  
The entrance was encircled by a depiction of the gate itself. On either  
side were two suns, carved into the stone and inlaid with gold.  
  
O'Neill followed her gaze and felt an overriding sense of disbelief.  
The damp, primitive chamber, which held the gate, was in total contrast  
to the opulence which he saw here. He shook his head.  
  
"Carter, does something seem odd to you? I mean apart from the  
obvious?" he said quietly as they moved forward.  
  
Sam tried to shrug the man's hand from her shoulder where his somewhat  
long talons were biting through her jacket and into her skin but he held  
firm, her struggles only causing him to grip tighter.   
  
"I'm not sure, sir. I mean this is pretty nice compared to where we've  
just come from," she answered, wincing. "Ouch, will you cut it out," she  
said and tried elbowing the man. He arched his body away from her and  
glared, holding tight.  
  
  
O'Neill watched the proceedings with growing anger. Almost as if the  
man caught his thoughts, his weapon moved an inch further into the back  
of O'Neill's jacket. A warning.  
  
O'Neill continued, trying to ignore him. "Exactly. On plenty of worlds  
we've seen, the gate room is usually pretty okay, sometimes even  
guarded. On this world, we got what? The opposite. Keep the gate in  
the dark, in the cellar? I don't buy it." He shook his head. He'd  
have loved Daniel's take on this one. He suspected he'd have a few  
things to say about it. He realised he was missing his friend again.  
  
"Maybe they don't use the gate anymore, sir. We didn't see any evidence  
of it being in regular use," Sam replied, her mind turning over what he  
was saying, and knowing in her heart that what she was saying was the  
vaguest stab in the dark.  
  
O'Neill shook his head. "Doesn't make sense. That room we saw. The  
one with the chains. That sure had a purpose. Didn't look as though  
they chained some guard dog up down there, now did it?"  
  
Sam nodded silently. He was right and the thought frightened her  
somehow.  
  
The huge gates at the end of the throne room were flung open suddenly.  
  
Two men marched in, stopped abruptly and then turned, their arms  
outstretched, weapons in each. They bowed towards one another. They  
were both of the same strange reptilian and human mixture.  
  
"Is this any way to treat our guests?" a voice declared from beyond the  
gates.  
  
Their captor released them both as soon as he heard the voice.  
  
Sam swung her shoulder around in a circle, trying to free it from the  
knot which was now her muscle. She turned to O'Neill and caught his  
eye. He acknowledged the look and nodded towards her jacket, the hand  
gun barely visible beneath. For some reason the alien hadn't thought it  
necessary to check for more weapons. A fact O'Neill was strangely  
perturbed by, but was nevertheless counting on. She nodded in return.  
O'Neill felt the comforting bulge of his own weapon as it hung beneath  
his arm.  
  
"I can assure you that you wouldn't get the weapon into your hands  
before my guards killed you," the voice continued. The owner swung into  
the room, long, red robes flapping around his ankles as he walked. The  
red material was threaded through with gold and silver and shone as the  
light caught it. His skin was pale and drawn and his eyes a sharp  
piercing blue. His hair receded to just in front of a small red cap  
which sat neatly on the crown of his head. He didn't seem to possess  
the vaguely reptilian features which his guards did. A fact which  
escaped neither of his guests. He reached them and made a flourish with  
his hand.  
  
"I am honoured," he said and eyed O'Neill with interest. "Allow me to  
introduce myself, I am Zophra. And you are?" he asked, his head on one  
side. Sam thought he looked like a small bird listening for worms, so  
intent was his expression.  
  
"We didn't say." O'Neill replied and smiled condescendingly.  
  
"Of course you didn't. And I don't blame you for feeling hostile but I  
can assure you we mean you no harm," Zophra said, smiling benevolently.  
Too benevolently for O'Neill's liking. No one was this nice, not when  
they'd just stuck a weapon in your back.  
  
"Our friends?" Sam asked, stepping forward.  
  
"Your friends are fine. You may join them now, if you wish," he said as  
he turned to speak to her, and then he stopped, his eyes widening. "And  
you...you are female?"  
  
Sam frowned. Okay she looked less than feminine in her combats and  
helmet but hell was it that much of a surprise.  
  
Zophra's palor blushed the palest pink as he watched the frown.   
  
"I'm sorry, I have offended you. My sincerest apologies, my dear. Let  
me relieve you of this," he reached out and swiftly lifted her gun from  
her jacket before she could react, and then reached up and pulled the  
helmet from her head. She moved back immediately and watched as his  
eyes widened. His hand moved instinctively towards her head, his  
fingers brushing lightly against her hair. He smiled and let them  
entwine into a lock of her hair, his expression one of pure rapture.  
  
Sam felt a revulsion work its way through her until she couldn't bear it  
any longer and she raised her hand, gripping his wrist tightly until he  
released his fingers from her hair. His eyes lit with admiration at her  
daring, as he reached up again and fingered a single lock of hair.  
  
O'Neill watched the proceedings with his hand poised. No matter what  
the guy said, he'd get to his weapon fast if he had to.  
  
Sam had had enough. No one did that to her. Not if she didn't want  
them to. She took a swing and slapped him hard across the face. Within  
seconds one of the guards turned, his hand coming up suddenly and  
smashed his arm across her, forcing her to sprawl backwards across the  
ground.  
  
"Imbecile," Zophra shouted, fingering his cheek as he moved his other  
hand from his cloak. He raised it and pointed his finger at the guard  
who instantly bowed his head and sunk to his knees.   
  
"You will pay for your stupidity," he said and beckoned with his finger  
to the hapless man.   
  
The man shuffled towards him, his head bowed. As he neared, Zophra  
reached out and pressed his hand to the man's forehead. A soft glow  
underneath, within his palm spread across the man's temple.   
  
"May your friends know why you are shamed," Zophra said quietly,  
removing his hand and clapping both hands together, as the man slumped  
to the floor, his eyes open, his heart racing, his eyes registering  
acute pain as a deep mark appeared on his forehead..  
  
Sam's eyes widened as she pulled herself to her feet. Two guards came  
into the room and immediately moved to the body.  
  
"You did that because he pushed me?" she asked, unable to believe the  
severity of the punishment.  
  
"He broke our law. The punishment is swift, painful and permanent,"  
Zophra replied and smiled, ignoring the dragging sound of the guard  
being manhandled towards the doors.  
  
"Kind of harsh, isn't it?" O'Neill said as he moved forwards, his hands  
raised, as a guard reached into his jacket and relieved him of his own  
gun.  
  
"It is our law. We have few rules, but those which are in place, must  
not be broken. For a composite or underclass to touch a perfect human  
woman is one of them." Zophra smiled again and turned to Sam.  
"Especially one with such light coloured hair," he added.  
  
O'Neill figured that if he smiled too any times he'd have to wipe the  
smile from his face. He felt less than benevolence coming from the guy  
anyway and this "underclass" thing ground at his gut.  
  
"And you have the right to touch me?" Sam persisted. O'Neill winced.  
Hell, couldn't she leave it?  
  
"I am neither composite or underclass as is obvious, my dear. I will  
forgive this insult for now. Please however, remember that in future,"  
Zophra replied, his eyes narrowing, his face losing its mask for an  
instant, and then recovering swiftly.  
  
Sam opened her mouth to reply and then caught O'Neill's eye. He firmly  
shook his head. Hell, he had to shut her up somehow, before she ended up  
somewhere he didn't want her to, and he ended up somewhere he didn't  
want to either.  
  
"You must be tired. We rarely receive visitors through our portal. It  
is said that those who come through, are sent through for a purpose, by  
the Great Ones who reside on the other side. We must respect their  
decision to send you to us, and we must learn why you have been gifted  
to us," Zophra said as he indicated the main doors from the chamber.  
"There is always a reason," he added, glancing at her meaningfully, and  
it sent a chill through Sam.  
  
  
oOo  
  
Daniel sat with his back against the wall of a large, rather exotically  
decorated room. The large display of cushions were all that were  
provided for seating and he had placed two large red ones near to the  
wall and made himself as comfortable as he could. He studied the pages  
of his notepad carefully. What he read frightened him. He knew that  
the translations from the writings were rather sketchy. He didn't fully  
understand the Babylonian inscriptions but the meanings were painfully  
clear and they disturbed him.  
He reached into the bowl of grape-like fruit and popped one into his  
mouth. The juice was refreshingly cold and sweet. As he chewed, he  
thought.  
  
Teal'c stood impassively next to him, his staff weapon resting lightly  
at this side, his fingers linked around it. So far, no one had tried to  
take it.  
  
"Teal'c, have you ever come across anything like this world?" Daniel  
ventured between mouthfuls, to his large friend.  
  
"I have seen many Goa'uld worlds, Daniel Jackson, but not as this one,"  
Teal'c replied sombrely.  
  
"Well..it could be that it's not essentially Goa'uld, only touched by  
them in recent years. If it's kept its own identity, it might be that  
it wouldn't be recognisable as a Goa'uld stronghold, despite what we  
learned from those inscriptions," Daniel replied, his eyes narrowing,  
taking in the scarabs which wound their way around the more ornate legs  
of a large table against the wall.  
  
The scraping of the door as it opened wide, distracted him from his  
contemplation.  
  
Both sets of eyes turned suddenly as the doors flung open and the  
welcome sight of their two friends appeared at the doorway.  
  
"Rest for a while. I will come for you when the time is right," Zophra  
said and bowed at all four of them. "The guards will remain at the door  
for your protection," he added as he turned and flourished out again.  
  
O'Neill grimaced. "Who's he kidding?" he muttered and turned to smile at  
the remaining members of his team. He clapped Daniel on the back.  
  
"Danny, my boy. Good to see you. Now give me what you've got on this  
place," he said and grabbing a couple of the large cushions he sat  
himself down to listen.  
  
Sam sat down on a set of steps rising from the floor. They led to the  
back of the room. She rested her chin on her hands, listening to the two  
men.  
  
"Okay. Remember that I've only just started to crack what I've seen  
down there, but what I did see doesn't make for good bedtime reading,"  
Daniel said and took his glasses off to rub the corners of his eyes. He  
felt tired.  
  
"So what's new? Let me have it," O'Neill said and leaned back, his arms  
behind his head. Damn it he might as well be comfortable if he was  
going to get bad news.  
  
Daniel put his notebook down and looked at O'Neill.  
  
"Okay, this whole complex seems to have been a glorified segregation  
center. That cavern, the one where the gate is, was used to ship out  
the lower classes, or at least the people considered to be some sort of  
subset of the species," Daniel said.  
  
"And we know this because?" O'Neill said, his eyebrows raised.  
  
"Well the writings don't give us too many facts per se, I mean it's not  
like some sort of library or anything, but from what I can see, the  
inscriptions were made by the people who were kept down there while they  
waited to be sent away," Daniel said, flipping his notepad to find a  
representative inscription.  
  
"Care to give us an example?" O'Neill asked.  
  
"Yes. There was one in particular which kind of summed up the whole  
situation," Daniel answered and started to scan his finger down his  
writing. "Here. Near to the gate I found this." He cleared his throat  
and then read.  
  
"If we are alive, are we not entitled to freedom? What gives any being  
the right to shackle another, caring little for their right to be free?  
On what basis do you make these decisions? On what basis do you have  
the right to call yourself a God?"  
  
"See, from what I'd found elsewhere added to this, it's obvious that  
someone, actually one person, up here was choosing who to send down  
there," he added thoughtfully.  
  
Sam raised her head from her chin. "Daniel, you said, they shipped them  
out. Shipped them out to where?"  
  
"Well this is the part you're not going to like," Daniel replied.  
  
"I don't like anything you've said so far," O'Neill muttered, his arms  
lowered, his sense of apprehension growing.  
  
Daniel ignored the retort and continued. "From the writings I've  
translated, the people who waited to leave through the Stargate were  
waiting to be fetched by the Goa'uld and used for slaves. The  
descriptions match what we've seen ourselves."  
  
A deep silence descended on the group.  
  
"Who would do that? To their own people?" Sam asked, her heart sinking.  
  
Daniel hesitated.  
  
"Why is it I sense worse news coming?" O'Neill muttered to himself,  
eyeing Daniel warily.  
  
Daniel ignored him and caught Teal'c's eye. The Jaffa was silent. His  
face betraying no emotion.  
  
"I guess I can't think of anything worse at the moment," Daniel conceded  
and then continued. "Except there appears to be a resident System Lord  
somewhere in this complex."  
  
"Oh, for crying out loud, " was all that Jack could think of saying as  
he let Daniel's words sink right in.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
PART THREE  
  
  
  
"And which little beauty would this one be?" O'Neill said, almost with  
resignation. Hell, System Lords kept creeping out of the woodwork.  
Trust them to find themselves on a planet which was host to another one.  
  
"Khepera," came the quiet response. Teal'c turned his head and looked  
at Daniel, his eyes widening.  
  
"Daniel Jackson. Khepera is dead. I have heard the tales from men who  
watched Ra destroy him many years ago."  
  
Daniel shrugged and reached into the bowl of grapes again. He knew what  
he'd read. Sam got up off the steps and sauntered across to them.  
  
"Well I guess they thought Hathor was dead once," she added to the  
conversation.   
  
"Yes, but there's a difference, Captain. Hathor disappeared. If  
Teal'c's right, and there were actual witnesses to his death, how in  
hell's name is he here?" O'Neill asked. "Daniel, suggestions?"  
  
Daniel sighed. He hated what he'd read.  
"All the inscriptions on the chamber wall tell of a continual cleansing,  
a purge of the lower caste here. Anyone who didn't fit whatever warped  
standard Khepera had established, got shipped out and the weak simply  
disappeared. It fits with what we know of Khepera as an Egyptian God.  
He was the God of self-generation and self- renewal. Ethnic cleansing  
suits his MO. You see all the scarabs everywhere? Khepera was seen by  
the Egyptians to have the head of a beetle. That's one more pointer for  
the theory that this is his stronghold."  
  
Sam fingered a gold scarab which wound its way up the column nearest to  
her. She shuddered inwardly.   
  
Daniel continued. "He was also known as the God of the Rising Sun and I  
expect that pissed off Ra, who was also known as the God of the Sun.  
Khepera was a self made God in Egypt. Ra probably saw him as a usurper  
to the throne."  
  
Teal'c interrupted. "Daniel Jackson is correct. It is doubtful that Ra  
would tolerate Khepera's insolence. But those tales of his death that I  
heard, were told by men who do not lie, nor fabricate to gain attention.  
If they say that Ra killed him, then I believe that is what they saw."  
  
O'Neill shook his head. "Okay, let's say this Khepera somehow rose from  
the dead."  
  
Teal'c raised an eyebrow.  
  
O'Neill caught the look and raised his hand. "Stay with me on this one,  
Teal'c. Say Khepera miraculously survived. What's he doing here? And  
more to the point, why is he sending half the population back to Goa'uld  
town? Doesn't make sense if he was on Ra's hit list. Not exactly my  
idea of low profile."  
  
"But, sir, Ra is dead. Maybe Khepera is back in favour again," Sam  
offered shrugging.  
  
O'Neill nodded. "Okay, I'll buy that. With Ra dead, Khepera might be  
sneaking back into favour, but the whole set-up here still doesn't make  
sense," O'Neill said.  
  
Daniel nodded reluctantly. "I'd have liked to have got more of the  
inscriptions translated."  
  
"I'd like to get the Tokra's take on this," Sam muttered.  
  
"Well we're on our own on this one, kids," O'Neill replied and thought  
for a minute.  
  
"If the people here are used to seeing Goa'uld foot soldiers come  
through the gate and take slaves back, why aren't they afraid of you,  
Teal'c?" he said.  
  
  
  
"Because your Jaffa friend does not wear the armour of the guards," a  
voice replied.  
  
SG1 swung around in unison. Teal'c lowered his staff and pointed it.  
  
The tall figure, which stood in the doorway laughed. "You think I would  
face the Tau'ri without some sort of a personal force field?" His  
laughter ran across the room, echoing off the walls.  
  
O'Neill waved a hand at Teal'c who lowered the staff.   
  
"Khepera, I assume?" he said, his eyes taking the Goa'uld's and locking  
with them.  
  
"How astute of you," Khepera replied and moved forwards. "The Tau'ri  
have progressed well since we left your pitiful little planet. The  
tales I have been hearing do you justice."  
  
O'Neill acknowledged the barbed compliment with a nod.  
  
"Strangely, we can't return the compliment. I mean, you're supposed to  
be dead," he said.  
  
Khepera pulled himself to his full height, his eyes glowing slightly.  
"My death was widely exaggerated," he replied and flicked his eyes to  
Sam.  
  
O'Neill caught the look and stiffened.  
  
"A Tau'ri female? How delightful," Khepera said and moved into the  
room. "Zophra was very excited about you my dear. I see your beauty  
was not exaggerated," he added.  
  
Sam stepped backwards. Khepera's eyes glowed brighter and his hand came  
up, the palm glowing.  
  
"I don't think so," O'Neill said as he side stepped quickly and stood in  
front of her.  
  
"Colonel, I can..." she started.  
  
"Not this time, Captain, not this time," he said firmly.  
  
Khepera lowered his hand and smiled. "I can wait. There will be other  
times," he said. He stood feet from O'Neill. His head moved to one  
side and he digested what he saw in front of him.   
  
"Touching. The Tau'ri's weakness is still prevalent I see. Protection  
of each other at any cost. You will never win against the Goa'uld, you  
are too weak, too bound up in compassion and acts of self sacrifice.  
The Goa'uld are strong, they care little for such things. Your weakness  
will be your downfall."  
  
"Well we weren't so weak when we got rid of Ra, were we?" Daniel said.  
  
Khepera rounded on him, his eyes flashing. "Ah, so this is indeed the  
Tau'ri group who killed the great God, Ra, is it?"  
  
"Not so great...." muttered Sam under her breath.  
  
Khepera spun around again. "You dare to take Ra's name and lessen its  
significance. You would dare?"  
  
"Hey, now Ra's not your buddy. You kinda got killed by him, or so we  
heard," O'Neill said, interested at his reaction.  
  
Khepera drew himself upright and hissed. "You are fools. You believe  
what you hear and not what you see with your own eyes. Ra did not kill  
me. Ra was my ally. Ra faked my death and sent me through the Gate to  
provide us both with an invincible army. My death was a ploy. My  
destiny was to provide a secret army for us both, and then to sit by  
Ra's side when he had defeated those who would challenge him. You have  
destroyed our original plan. Your meddling has cost me greatly."  
  
"So I guess going home is out of the question?" O'Neill quipped and  
raised his eyebrows at the others.  
  
Khepera smiled. "I will send you to your home planet when I have  
finished with you. But your homecoming will be as painful for those who  
find your bodies as for yourselves," he said.   
  
"Revenge is sweet," muttered O'Neill.  
  
"My revenge for Ra's death will be very sweet indeed. However, I must  
acknowledge that your team has caused many problems to my enemies. For  
that I may thank you in some small way. Perhaps your bodies will never  
return home." Khepera turned towards the door.  
  
"Gee, don't be a stranger now," O'Neill shouted as the door shut behind  
him.  
  
"Way to go, Daniel. Telling him how we kicked Ra's ass right into  
hyperspace," O'Neill muttered.  
  
"Well, I did think that Ra was his enemy. Goa'uld don't usually form  
alliances." Daniel replied shrugging.  
  
"Daniel's right, colonel. If Ra had been his enemy then logically  
Khepera would have been grateful," Sam said.  
  
"Okay, okay, you don't have to gang up on me," O'Neill said and sat down  
heavily.  
"Choices?" he said looking around at each of them.  
  
"Get to the gate," offered Sam. As the words left her lips she knew it  
would be a pointless effort even trying.   
  
"Yeah, well Captain, somehow I don't think we're going to get very far  
past those damn guards," O'Neill said and looked across at Teal'c.  
  
"I could take out the next group who enter through the door, O'Neill,"  
Teal'c said, fingering his staff intently.  
  
"Sure, we could try that," O'Neill said thoughtfully, and a thought  
started to come to mind.  
  
"Daniel, do we know anything about the so-called underclass on this  
planet?" he asked.  
  
Daniel took off his glasses and took out a handkerchief to clean them.  
He was silent for a second and then spoke. "The walls did indicate that  
the underclass were "multitudinous" - the inscriptions' words, not mine.  
If that's so, then possibly there are some left somewhere. You thinking  
resistance?"  
  
O'Neill nodded. "We need for two of us to get out of here and track  
down anyone who can help us. The other two need to get back to the gate  
and fast. If we can get some reinforcements here...." his words trailed  
off as the door opened again, and he swiftly put a finger to his mouth  
and then sat back against the cushions.  
  
Six guards entered through the door, together with Zophra and a young  
woman, heavily veiled but wearing a side arm. Her eyes peered out from  
behind the veil, dark and cold.  
  
"The great Khepera demands that you be taken to our preparation rooms,"  
he said and bowed.  
  
Alarm bells started ringing in O'Neill's head as the others leapt  
instinctively to their feet.  
  
"Preparation for what?" O'Neill asked, his face registering a mixture of  
apprehension and anger.  
  
"I am not permitted to inform you. However, Selphic will be carrying  
out our Master's instructions. She will explain," Zophra replied, his  
face impassive.  
  
Selphic bowed and then clicked her fingers.  
  
  
Two human/reptilian guards moved swiftly towards Teal'c, his staff  
coming up in seconds and opening fire on them immediately. They  
staggered backwards momentarily and then launched forwards. Teal'c  
stared at his weapon in disbelief, the discharge had merely damaged  
their clothes, their skin appeared intact. He looked at O'Neill in  
surprise as his staff was removed and he was bundled through the doors.  
  
"Perhaps you would wish the guards to become more violent with your  
other friends?" Selphic said, her eyes narrowing as she stood in front  
of O'Neill.  
  
"Oh, I don't think so," he replied and swiftly reached forwards towards  
her, his hand taking her veil and pulling it swiftly away from her face,  
his other hand grabbing at the weapon which nestled at her waist.  
  
One of the guards lifted his energy weapon and fired.   
  
As O'Neill fell to the floor he noticed through the mist which became  
his companion, that the woman had a strangely deformed face, her  
features part reptilian, part human and part something he couldn't  
comprehend. As a fog took his senses and muted the pain he wondered if  
he cared.  
  
  
oOo  
  
  
  
"Jack. Come on out of it." The voice was damn persistent. The fog  
felt nice. He didn't want to wake out of it. Damn it, why should he?  
Then he felt the shaking and it irritated him. He pushed the  
perpetrator away with his arm and slowly opened his eyes reluctantly.  
  
"Jeez, Daniel. Can't a guy get some rest around here?" he said as he  
pushed himself up on one hand and massaged his temples ruefully with the  
other.  
  
"You've been out for four hours. I kind of thought you might like to  
know what's happened to the others," Daniel said as he helped O'Neill to  
a more upright position.  
  
O'Neill grimaced. "What were those things, anyway?" he said as he shook  
his head fiercely, trying to shake the ache and the fog away.  
  
Daniel shrugged. "Some sort of stun gun," he suggested.  
  
O'Neill nodded and then looked over to him. "You okay?" he asked.  
  
"Sure. I'm more worried about the others. That woman or whatever she  
was, Selphic, she took Carter away when you were hit. Teal'c was  
already gone. It seems like they've got different plans for each of  
us," he said glumly.  
  
"Divide and conquer," O'Neill said slowly and then got to his feet with  
a grunt, the exertion causing his head to pound.  
  
Daniel nodded and looked up at him. "You might as well sit down, Jack.  
I've had four hours to look over this place. There's no way of getting  
out."  
  
O'Neill looked at him sceptically. "Mind if I take a look. Nothing  
personal," he said, and winced as he stretched his arms.  
  
Daniel nodded, understanding. "Be my guest," he offered.  
  
O'Neill walked slowly around the room, his eyes scanning the walls and  
then the ceiling. Then he walked back again, this time scanning the  
walls and the floor. The room was a simple square shape. The walls were  
white, the ceiling was white and the floor was white. There was one  
entrance, which was also the exit. A set of eight bars running  
vertically down the length of the wall, each one set four or so inches  
apart from the other. There was no sign of a lock. There was a small  
silver convenience in the corner and a small metallic tap which  
protruded from the wall. A tiny droplet of water had found its way to  
the end of the tap.   
  
Finally he dropped down next to Daniel.  
"Okay, you win," he said.  
  
"It's not a victory I want," Daniel mumbled and leant back.  
  
O'Neill nodded in agreement. "Do we know where they took Carter and  
Teal'c?" he asked, not really sure if he wanted to know the answer.  
  
Daniel looked at him, his eyes hollow. He knew that they were the only  
chance the other two had. He knew that somehow they had to get out. He  
also knew that when Jack found out where they had been taken and why,  
his urge to get out would make him as desperate as he'd been while Jack  
had been unconscious.  
  
He looked down at his hands and the scratched and bleeding nails and  
fingertips. He hadn't told Jack how long he'd tried to wrench the bars  
apart, even though he knew it was impossible. He hadn't told him how  
long he'd tried to wrench the damn tap from the wall just to get some  
sort of weapon to get them out. Now he knew Jack would do the same and  
he also knew how futile it would be.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
PART FOUR  
  
  
  
"Spit it out Daniel," O'Neill said, puzzled. He hadn't seen Daniel  
quite so reticent in a long time.  
  
"Teal'c's been taken to be reconditioned," Daniel said and before he  
could go on, O'Neill put his hand on his arm.   
  
"Just a minute. Reconditioned? For what?" he asked puzzled.  
  
"To become Khepera's first Jaffa," Daniel said simply. He was trying to  
make this as painless as possible. He was failing.  
  
"More details?" O'Neill asked, his eyes boring into Daniel's, a mixture  
of concern and anger reflected in his eyes.  
  
Daniel sighed. "Okay, you want it, you got it. Khepera sees Teal'c as  
ideal for building up his new army. He's Jaffa and he carries the only  
other Goa'uld on this planet. By subverting Teal'c he has a powerful  
warrior in his army. Khepera knows that without Ra's support he has to  
build his own forces here, where no one knows he is. Then he can strike  
against Heru'ur and Sokar and whoever else is out there."  
  
O'Neill raised an eyebrow. "Teal'c won't subvert very easily," he said.  
  
Daniel looked down.  
  
"What?" O'Neill said, somewhat alarmed at his friend's attitude. Sure  
Teal'c was in trouble but he was strong. Trying to subvert him probably  
wouldn't work anyway.  
  
"Khepera's methods of subversion are apparently unique," Daniel  
muttered.  
  
"Like?"  
  
"Like fitting him with an implant. An organic implant. One which will  
live in harmony with his larva but won't let him do anything to go  
against Khepera." Daniel answered.  
  
"And you know all this because?"  
  
"Zophra took great delight in telling me all about it once they'd put us  
in here. I guess he figured we can't do anything to stop it." Daniel  
said.  
  
"And Carter?"  
  
Daniel shook his head. "You're not going to like this either."  
  
"Like I really like what they're doing to Teal'c? Come on Danny, spill  
it."  
  
"Khepera's going to use her as a host in some sort of genetic  
experiment." Daniel raised his eyes to look at O'Neill.  
  
"You said that there were no other Goa'uld larva on the planet," O'Neill  
said, his mind racing, his nerves on edge.  
  
"And there aren't. Jack, Khepera's been working on genetically creating  
a new species. A species he can call his own. A species to populate his  
armies, and populate his world. Remember, I told you he was the God of  
self-generation and self-renewal. He's probably been experimenting  
genetically for hundreds of years in some form or other. You can see  
from the guards that he's modified reptilian and human DNA. You saw the  
guards' skin doesn't penetrate easily. But he wants more, Jack. Much  
more."  
  
"Do I want to know this?" O'Neill said, looking doubtful.  
  
"I guess you should know what we're up against," Daniel replied and got  
to his feet. He turned and stared through the bars at nothing in  
particular.  
  
"Selphic's managed to combine the reptilian/human DNA with something  
else. I'm not sure what, but they're sure excited about it. They're  
going to use Sam as a genetic guinea pig to see if it can survive. If  
it can, then we'll be next on his list."  
  
Jack kicked at the wall angrily.   
  
  
  
oOo  
  
  
Sam looked around her. The room was basic but spotlessly clean. She'd  
been sitting for what seemed like an eternity, waiting. She was worried  
about the others. Jack had been hit by that energy weapon and Daniel  
looked horrified as she'd been led away after Teal'c. She didn't like  
Selphic one bit. She'd been put in this room, sat on a chair and then  
they'd locked the door. No word of explanation, nothing.  
  
Then suddenly the door opened.  
  
"We need to take some blood," Selphic announced as she walked in. She  
reached forward for Sam's arm, her eyes flashing as she spoke.  
  
Sam backed away from the chair and folded her arms. She wasn't about to  
co-operate with them.  
  
"We can do this the easy way or the hard way, conscious or unconscious,"  
Selphic said as she snapped her fingers and two guards entered the room.  
  
Sam contemplated their weapons and knew that she was no good to the  
others if she lay unconscious for the next hour. Reluctantly she  
stretched her arm forward.  
  
"Good," Selphic muttered as she roughly gripped Sam's arm and placed a  
small round instrument on the skin. She pressed a button. A slight  
stinging and red liquid flushed into the container. She placed a small  
pad on the wound and moved to go out of the room.  
  
"Wait. I need to know why I'm here. I need to know where my friends  
are," Sam said.  
  
"Your friends are well. For the moment. You will be reunited soon  
enough. You are here because you have been honoured by the great God,  
Khepera. You are his chosen one."  
  
"Wait...." The door closed behind Selphic. Sam folded her arm and  
rubbed the pad across the skin ruefully. She felt a sense of relief  
that her friends were all right, but being Khepera's chosen one sounded  
a dubious honour somehow.  
  
Sam sat back on the seat and waited.  
  
  
oOo  
  
  
The passageway was dark as it always was. Dark and damp. The stones  
here were rough, a sure sign that the passage wasn't used much. That  
was to his advantage. Forgotten routes, forgotten ways, forgotten  
lives. The youngster edged towards the corner of the wall, his stealth  
his best weapon.  
  
This part of the palace outer-ring was abandoned. Khepera didn't think  
he needed to defend against attack from outside. The threat was always  
from within, from the ring of water in the bowels of the palace and from  
beyond.  
  
Tornak pulled the roughly made hood over his head and gripped his blade  
tightly. He didn't want to use it, didn't want to kill anyone. The  
guards knew no better. Crafted from something Tornak didn't understand  
fully, they were pure servants to Khepera, knowing nothing of their  
heritage, of the men and women who had died to give them life. Without  
the building blocks of life, the composites would not exist. Tornak  
knew that. Tornak had been taught that. Tornak wanted to teach others  
about it, but there were few others left. Few humans, to pass his  
knowledge to. It is as it must be. His teacher warned him to stay  
hidden, stay away from the center of the palace. Now Tornak had strayed  
too far in and yet had been rewarded by sight of them. Sight of the  
newcomers. Tornak had to tell his teacher and warn him. Warn him that  
the day of reckoning approached, as he had been told it would.  
  
The large hand, which smothered his mouth suddenly and took his breath  
from his throat, was familiar. Tornak relaxed into the stranglehold.  
  
"You'll get yourself taken through the ring, boy, one of these days,"  
the rough voice hissed steadily in his ear and then dragged him quietly  
to the side and through a dark passage to their left.  
  
The smell of decay greeted their nostrils as they made their way slowly  
down towards the deep chamber. Down beneath the inner part of the  
palace and extending towards the outer defences, the chamber lay well  
behind the Gate chamber, out of sight and forgotten by all but the few  
humans who remained within the palace perimeter. Humans who poked at  
the defences and sometimes won. Small victories, small annoyances to  
Khepera, but victories all the same.  
  
"Morphan, you'll scare me so much one day," the boy chided insolently  
and was playfully cuffed by the older man.  
  
"Saving your sorry backside, boy, and that's all the thanks I get," the  
older man said laughing as he greeted the two men who guarded the  
entrance to a smaller chamber at the rear, an almost mirror image to the  
Gate chamber.  
  
The chamber was basic but comfortable. A low bed, curtained behind a  
wooden bench and table. Some shelves which held books and writing  
material. Morphan lit a candle and placed it on the table. He gestured  
for the boy to sit.  
  
"I have news, teacher," the boy said, sitting down on the bench, his  
heart racing at the news he was about to impart, a strange cocktail of  
excitement and fear.  
  
Morphan turned to his pupil and smiled.   
  
"And what news is so important that you risk your freedom for it, boy?"  
  
"The ring has given up four strangers to Khepera, teacher. Three men  
and a woman. A flaxen haired woman, teacher."  
  
Morphan's eyes narrowed. "And the men? They are as we are? Not  
composites?"  
  
"No, teacher, they are not. They are as we are. All except one. One  
has a strange mark here," and the boy touched the center of this  
forehead swiftly. "His head bears no hair and he carries a weapon as  
you have warned me the Ring bearers do."  
  
Morphan turned and lifting a jug from the table, he poured straw colored  
fluid into two mugs and passed one to the boy. Tornak gratefully sipped  
at the liquid.  
  
"It is time, isn't it teacher?" the boy said.  
  
"It is time, my boy, it is time. Go to the perimeter and seek out Sten  
and his men. Tell them to come to me."  
  
Tornak drained his cup and wiped a grimy hand across his mouth. He  
hesitated momentarily and then risked mentioning it.  
"And those down below?" he asked, his eyes reflecting terror and  
excitement.  
  
"I have told you not to speak of them, Tornak. They are not to be  
disturbed. Not yet. Their time will come soon enough, soon enough,"  
Morphan said and smiled gently.  
  
"Are you pleased with me, teacher?" Tornak said as he wrapped his cloak  
around him and eyed his teacher warily.  
  
"You have done well, my boy. You have done well. Now go with all  
haste. Before it is too late."  
  
As the boy turned to leave, Morphan put his hand on his shoulder and  
turned him to face him.  
  
"Tell me, Tornak. The woman? Is she with Khepera yet?"  
  
The boy shook his head, his eyes burning. "Selphic has her. I saw them  
take her to her rooms."  
  
Morphan's spirits rose. "Then it is not too late. Go, go with speed,  
my boy. Bring me Sten."  
  
The boy nodded and fled, upward through the chamber and back through the  
passage towards the palace perimeter and Sten's people.  
  
In the small chamber, Morphan extinguished the candle and sat down to  
think. He bowed his head for a minute and then raised it. His eyes  
glowed bright, an illumination never seen by his pupil. His voice,  
deeper, in control, called for his two guards.  
  
They bowed in deference.  
  
Morphan faced them and raised his hands. "Send word to the creatures  
below. Tell them to prepare."   
  
Then he uttered four words, but the words were enough.  
  
"Tok'ra, it is time."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
PART FIVE  
  
  
  
Teal'c paced the room which he'd been given. He'd stood patiently for  
well over an hour but now his nerves were on edge. Had he been split up  
from the others because they were prisoners and he wasn't? His mind  
raced behind the calm exterior of his face. His staff had been taken  
from him before he'd entered the room. He'd tried to take it back but  
four guards had overcome him.   
  
Teal'c remembered back to that. The strangest thing was that they'd  
been trying not to hurt him. They'd been rough, but even when he'd  
lashed out at two of them, they'd merely restrained him and pushed him  
into the room, then locked the door. Teal'c didn't understand.  
  
The room was comfortable, an exact replica of the room they'd been in  
earlier, only smaller. A bed was hidden behind exotic drapes, which  
billowed gracefully in the draught from a high up open window. Food and  
a pitcher of what looked like wine sat on a low table nearby. Teal'c  
had no appetite.  
  
The door swung open and Zophra moved swiftly into the room, followed by  
two guards. He bowed and then smiled.  
  
"You are honoured indeed. Khepera will be coming to your chamber within  
seconds. Your destiny is envied by all who serve him. Please accept my  
allegiance to you, my Lord, when your destiny is sealed this very day.  
I will be your....." Zophra's voice trailed off, a choking sound coming  
from his mouth instead. Teal'c looked up sharply.  
  
Khepera's hand rested lightly on Zophra's head. He smiled broadly at  
Teal'c and then looked down at Zophra.  
  
"You will be his what, Zophra? Your allegiance is to me. To no one  
else. Without me, you would have been taken by the Ring bearers. Do  
I make myself understood?"  
  
The choking continued.  
  
"I will take that as your oath of total loyalty," Khepera said and moved  
his hand.   
  
Zophra dropped to his knees, his eyes watering, and fingered his throat,  
coughing as he did so. He nodded, his eyes taking Teal'c's and then  
dropping in submission.  
  
Teal'c raised an eyebrow at the proceedings. Why had Zophra tried to  
place his allegiance with him? What was he saying about destiny?  
Teal'c was half inclined to treat his words as the babblings of a  
madman, but there was something in Zophra's eyes, a desperation, which  
gave him a bad feeling in his gut.  
  
"And now, my dear Jaffa, it is time for you to meet something.  
Something which will soon become better acquainted with you," Khepera  
said and snapped his fingers.   
  
Selphic moved slowly into the room, her veil once more attached firmly  
to the side of her face. She placed a small box on the table and bowed,  
her head reaching towards the floor, her hands outstretched in complete  
submission.  
  
Teal'c stood impassively, his fingers flexing. His Goa'uld larva moved,  
agitated inside him. Something in the box, something his larva could  
sense was wrong.   
  
Kherpera reached across and lifted the lid of the box slowly. His  
dipped his hand in and pulled a small vial of clear liquid from the box.  
He lifted it to his face and peered intently inside. Teal'c could see  
nothing.   
  
"Just one of these inside you, my friend, and you would be mine. Mine.  
Loyal to me and me alone. Think what a dozen could do. Selphic here  
told me that the human scientist who manufactured the originals was a  
genius and a perfectionist. I had to kill him. No one is that perfect.  
No one except for me, of course." Khepera laughed loudly at that.  
"Selphic assures me she is not a genius nor is she a perfectionist. She  
is close, of course. I made her. I know how close she is."   
  
Khepera's eyes glinted and Teal'c saw the madness for an instant. The  
madness of a dictator, believing himself to be a God. A dictator, who  
held the destiny of every living creature on his world, in his own  
hands.  
  
Khepera closed his fingers over the vial and smiled at Teal'c.   
  
"Nano-technology. The perfect solution to implantation. The scientist  
was almost right. It was almost perfect. He forgot one thing. To  
thrive inside a Jaffa, to thrive side by side with a Goa'uld, there had  
to be something else, something the host couldn't reject. Something the  
larva could co-exist with, side by side. Selphic here, my sweet child,  
has found that something. Organic material combined with these little  
beauties. Mind control which will carve out its own place within you,  
my friend. Mind control which will ensure your total loyalty, your  
total service to me."  
  
Teal'c's mind raced. "I will never serve a Goa'uld," he said firmly.  
  
"You will have no choice," Khepera said slowly, his eyes glowing for an  
instant and then dying.  
  
"I would rip it from my body before I submit to you," Teal'c said, his  
jaw locked in determination.  
  
"And how many can you rip from your body? How will you know where they  
are, where they have hidden? These little beauties will become a part  
of you. They will attach themselves to places even the best surgeons  
would be unable to find." Khepera smiled and placed the vial back  
inside the box.   
  
"My body will reject them," Teal'c said.  
  
"Very astute. Perhaps a normal body would reject them, yes. Perhaps a  
normal body would die in the process. Your body is host to a Goa'uld  
larva, your body will welcome them."  
  
Teal'c stood silently.  
  
"You do not ask why your body will welcome my present to you. Your mind  
is confused. You will soon be the first ever Jaffa to serve Khepera.  
Does that not excite you?"  
  
"It does not," Teal'c replied.  
  
"Then know this, the organic material which has been used contains  
Goa'uld DNA. My DNA. You will be linked to me as no other First Prime  
has been linked to its master. This is the start of history, my friend.  
Warriors who are linked to their master, unable to act against him,  
unable to betray him. Able only to do his will, at all costs. To do  
otherwise would cause you so much pain....need I go on?" Khepera  
clapped his hands and Selphic swept up the box and left the room.  
  
Teal'c watched her go and noticed a haunted look in those dark eyes  
behind the veil. Selphic and Zophra betrayed their emotions. Undying  
loyalty was something you had to earn, not beat out of people. Teal'c  
knew this well. Teal'c also knew the look of desperation. Both had  
displayed it.  
  
"If the experiment is successful in you, my friend, you will travel  
secretly to other worlds and bring me other Jaffa. They too will be  
implanted, and so the leaders of my army will grow. Invincible,  
unstoppable and loyal."  
  
Khepera's eyes glazed for a moment, a look of reverie on his face. Then  
he snapped back to the present.   
"You will be prepared for this opportunity. Selphic will call for you  
when she has finished with her other duties."  
  
Teal'c raised his eyebrow in query.  
  
Khepera moved towards the door and turned to face Teal'c.  
"You are not the only one who will be gifted today, my friend. Your  
friend, the woman, is to be endowed with a wonderful gift. She is to be  
first host to my new composite. I have waited for a long time for this.  
This day shall be remembered in history. I will talk with you more."  
  
As Khepera left the room, Teal'c sat down to think. He had to get out  
of there, he had to.  
  
  
oOo  
  
  
Daniel rested his hand on the bars of the prison cell, his thoughts  
turning over slowly. A Goa'uld System Lord hiding on a planet and  
building an army. It made perfect sense of course. Khepera knew that  
the odds of defeating the likes of Heru'ur or Sokar were infinitesimal.  
Without some sort of advantage he'd never win and probably be destroyed  
in the process.   
  
"He's more dangerous than any of the others, you know," Daniel muttered  
out loud.  
  
"Huh?" Jack looked up from where he was sitting.  
  
"Oh sorry, just thinking out loud," Daniel said and turned to his  
friend. "I was just thinking. Khepera could turn out to be the most  
dangerous of the System Lords, or at least of those we know about. He's  
playing with genetics here. A whole army of creatures the other System  
Lords might have trouble beating."  
  
"Makes him our number one target then," Jack replied and grimaced.  
"'Course, we could just let him take out the others first and then go  
for him," he added wryly.  
  
"The System Lords have been around a long time. A few years of battles  
won't mean anything to them. We're the ones with time constraints,  
Jack. We've got to stop him here, right now," Daniel said and sighed,  
rubbing his eyes under his glasses.  
  
"Yeah, well we got kind of problem, right now," Jack said ruefully  
looking at the bars. "I'm thinking we gotta get ourselves a  
distraction." he mused.  
  
The sound of guards approaching made them both turn.   
"Maybe not," O'Neill said as he leapt to his feet and readied himself.  
For what, he wasn't sure.  
  
"You will come with us," the first guard said. "Selphic has need of  
you." He touched a bracelet which clung to his wrist, and the door to  
the cell swung outwards.  
  
"Just who I wanted to talk to," said O'Neill sarcastically as he went  
through, followed by Daniel.  
  
O'Neill's mind raced. They had to make their escape now. They might not  
get another opportunity. He didn't have time to warn Daniel. Didn't  
have time to formulate a plan. The four guards flanked them, two in  
front and two to the rear. He'd have to rely on Daniel taking the rear  
two. He turned and caught Daniel's eye briefly. Whether he understood  
he couldn't tell.  
  
They turned a corner in the corridor and he lunged forward, knocking the  
first guard to the floor and grabbing at the second guard's shoulder.  
He heard scuffling behind him and said a swift and silent prayer than  
Daniel was doing his part.  
  
The knife, which rested in the guard's belt, was easy to pull clear.  
Jack thrust it purposely forward into the man's stomach and up, lifting  
the guard slightly with the effort. The grunt was the last sound the  
guard made. The second guard lashed out with his hand, the reptilian  
skin hard and cold on Jack's jaw. Jack dropped to the ground, his head  
spinning for a second and then rolled quickly to the side as the guard  
pulled free his weapon and fired, the energy burst disappearing into  
air. O'Neill reached across and grabbed at the dead guard's weapon and  
then rolled again. The cry of dismay as the second burst of fire missed  
its target was followed by one of pain. O'Neill spun around to see  
Daniel lowering a weapon and watching the guard fall to the floor  
unconscious. Two guards lay prone on the floor behind him, a knife and  
blood nearby.  
  
O'Neill raised an eyebrow.  
  
Daniel shrugged and looked at the weapon now resting at his side. He  
smiled an odd smile and then his face paled. As he swayed Jack knew  
he'd paid a price for his success. He caught him just as he was about to  
hit the floor, a spreading smudge of red just showing on his jacket  
beneath his rib cage.  
  
  
  
  
  
PART SIX  
  
  
"Jeez, Daniel, I don't know how you managed this," O'Neill muttered  
lightly, as he lowered him gently to the floor of the corridor, concern  
mirrored in his eyes, as he watched the red smudge deepen.   
  
"Not intentional, I can assure you," Daniel managed to joke back and  
then winced, putting a hand to the wound. "Too vulnerable out here,  
Jack," he said and tried to get up, failing miserably.  
  
"Whoa..easy, Danny boy. Leave it to me," O'Neill said and placed both  
his arms around his friend's chest to lift him, knowing that Daniel was  
right. Staying out in the open like this was pointless. They had to  
get out of the corridor.  
  
O'Neill managed to half-drag Daniel along the corridor until he rounded  
a corner, out of sight. To his relief he saw a door leading off the  
corridor. He pushed on it hard but it wouldn't move.  
  
"Damn," he said and lowered Daniel once more to the floor.  
  
There didn't seem to be a lever. Firing on the door would bring  
attention to them. Then he remembered the bracelet on the guard.  
Propping Daniel up against the wall he moved swiftly and silently back  
down the corridor until he reached the bodies. He grabbed another of  
their weapons for good measure and then manhandled the bracelet from the  
dead guard.  
  
Daniel's eyes were closed when he got back to the door, his hand draped  
across his wound. O'Neill fingered the bracelet impatiently. At first  
nothing seemed to happen. Then a sudden sound and the door slid open.  
  
"Come on, buddy, hang on a little longer," he encouraged as he bent to  
lift his friend through the door and into the darker passage beyond.  
Daniel groaned as O'Neill lifted him.  
Once inside he considered his options briefly. He had to deal with  
Daniel's stab injury and he had to get them to somewhere to hide.   
  
He gingerly lifted Daniel's shirt and inspected the bloody wound. The  
gash seemed small but deep. He had nothing to cover the wound and he  
needed to put pressure on it. Jack remembered that Daniel always  
carried a supply of handkerchiefs on his person, so he felt carefully  
around his friend's jacket. To his relief, a small wad of four clean  
white handkerchiefs were in the inside of the jacket. He pressed two to  
the wound hard, eliciting a sharp wince from his friend.  
  
They had to hide. He knew that. If someone opened the damn door they  
were sitting ducks. O'Neill's mind raced as he pressed down on the pad.  
How could he move Daniel and maintain the pressure?   
  
Suddenly, A scuffling sound behind him diverted his attention  
momentarily. He gripped the alien weapon and moved himself into position  
next to his friend, his hand reaching across and maintaining the  
pressure on the wound.   
  
"You can put your weapon down," the voice said. It was strong and  
strangely reassuring.  
  
"And like I'm going to trust you?" O'Neill said half-heartedly in the  
direction of the voice.  
  
"You need our help. Your friends need our help. Trusting us might be  
your only chance." The voice replied calmly.  
  
"Show yourself, then I might listen," he replied, his eyes looking  
around him, unable to tell where the voice was coming from.  
  
"You are wise to trust no one. But we mean you no harm. You look like  
you need our help urgently. Turn around. We are behind you."  
  
O'Neill scrambled around and saw the wall behind him open up, its  
grating sound alarmingly loud. It revealed a route into the darkness.  
Two figures emerged swiftly. They pulled their hoods back.  
  
"And you are?" O'Neill asked.  
  
"We are your last hope and you are ours," the first man said and then he  
lowered his head. When he raised it, his voice had changed. O'Neill  
flinched momentarily at the change in tone.  
  
"We are Tok'ra," came the simple sentence. O'Neill relaxed inwardly.  
  
  
oOo  
  
  
Sam Carter was bored. She'd sat in the room for what seemed like hours.  
The door was locked. The room was empty except for a medical couch and  
a chair. She kicked her heels endlessly as she sat perched on the  
medical couch, her thoughts measured.  
She wasn't afraid, she knew she was able to handle most things. She  
was more worried about what had happened to her friends. She felt  
frustrated at being unable to help them, unable to get out of the room.  
The sound of the door opening was a welcome distraction.  
  
She was almost pleased to see Selphic, an interruption to the solitude,  
although the feeling swiftly faded as she watched the veil lower and the  
dark eyes burn with an anger she'd not seen there before.  
  
"My master's anger will make the palace walls tremble," Selphic declared  
as she stood, her hands by her side, her face contorted with fury.  
  
Sam looked quizzical. "Why?" Was all she could think of asking.  
  
"You know why," the woman replied, although a doubt crossed her features  
momentarily as she saw the puzzled look on Sam's face.  
  
Sam shrugged and pulled herself down off the couch. She wasn't sure how  
she could have pissed off Khepera yet. She wanted to and intended to,  
but so far she'd done nothing except give a blood sample.  
"What, he doesn't like my hair color anymore?" she half joked and then  
wished she hadn't.  
  
Selphic moved towards her so fast Sam didn't have time to react, and  
slapped her fair and square across the cheek. Sam steadied herself, her  
eyes burning with anger, and instinctively raised her hand in  
retaliation.  
  
"If you touch Selphic, I will kill you," the comment came from the  
doorway. She saw Zophra stand, his weapon pointed at her, his eyes  
burning. She saw Selphic throw him a look of thanks and then she backed  
away from Sam, away towards the door.  
  
Sam fingered her cheek ruefully. The look of caring which had passed  
between Selphic and Zophra surprised her, and yet perhaps it shouldn't  
have. Finding a common bond in a place filled with despair and killing  
wasn't so far fetched, was it? Sam eyed them both with interest.  
Something they weren't telling her, something they were afraid of  
admitting.   
  
"You have deceived us. Your looks deceived us. Your blood contained  
elements which I have witnessed only once before. You are not what you  
seem," Selphic said and Sam thought she caught a tear glisten in the  
cold eyes of the woman before her. "He will punish me, he will destroy  
me for my ignorance," she added flatly.  
  
Sam shook her head. "I'm me. I don't know what you thought I was. I'm  
sorry I'm not. Well frankly I'm not sorry but..."  
  
"Silence. Khepera will see you now. Your fate will be determined by  
him. Perhaps he will not blame Selphic. Perhaps he will see your  
treachery. Your body may be of no use to him now alive. He will decide  
how best to use it," Zophra said.  
  
Zophra waved the weapon towards the door.  
  
Sam didn't move. She stared at Selphic for a single moment. "Listen, I  
can help you. I can help you to escape from here. I know that's what  
you want. Just let me go," she said, looking across at Zophra.  
  
Zophra exchanged a glance with Selphic who shook her head vehemently.  
Sam had touched a nerve and she knew it. They both wanted out, that's  
what they wanted. She'd laid temptation before them but they were too  
afraid to take it.  
  
"Your words are treacherous. Khepera must deal with you," Zophra said,  
drawing his attention back to Sam, and he waved at her to move.  
  
Sam left the room with a feeling of relief at being out. She hadn't  
been able to persuade her two captors, but she knew she'd interested  
them. Out of the room she might be able to do something. Out she might  
be able to help the others. She'd caught the look of fear on the faces  
of the two palace officials and her thoughts raced. So, Khepera's most  
loyal subjects not only feared him, they wanted to leave him. She  
decided to bide her time. Fear was a useful weapon. Nevertheless, one  
SG1 officer against four guards and two palace officials didn't seem  
like good odds. She was no good dead. She'd wait her opportunity.  
  
As she left the medical chamber and headed for the main palace rooms,  
interested eyes watched from the shadows.   
  
  
oOo  
  
  
Daniel winced and gritted his teeth as Morphan ran his hand across the  
knife wound, the healing device which nestled in his palm giving a  
sensation of warmth. His forehead burned and he felt dizzy, but the  
sensation of warmth was comforting. He laid his head back on the pillow  
and tried to relax.  
  
"This will help the healing process but it cannot do everything. I will  
give you a mixture which will also help the pain and will fight any  
infection," Morphan said as he got off the bed and moved to his shelves.  
  
O'Neill smiled reassuringly at Daniel and squeezed his shoulder gently  
as he moved from the bed and sat down at the table. His relief at  
Daniel's recovery had turned to curiosity about their saviours. He  
looked down and started to examine the alien weapon he had in his hands.  
  
"Do you know where our friends are being held?" he asked as he glanced  
across at Morphan who was mixing a green colored liquid together in a  
small wooden cup.  
  
Morphan turned and passed the cup to O'Neill and nodded at Daniel.  
  
"Give this to your friend, then I will tell you what we have found out,"  
he said, moving across to the door and conferring with a man who had  
appeared there suddenly.  
  
O'Neill took the cup and perched next to Daniel. Putting one hand under  
his shoulders and lifting him into a sitting position, he used his other  
hand to put the cup to Daniel's lips, allowing the green liquid to  
filter slowly into his mouth.  
  
Daniel paused for breath and grimaced. "Yuk," he said.  
  
"Gotta take your medicine, Danny boy," O'Neill said jokingly as he  
insisted he finish it and noted mentally that he looked better already.  
  
"Yeah, well next time I'll make sure you take some too," Daniel replied  
and wiped his hand across his mouth as O'Neill lowered him back onto the  
bed.  
  
"Your friends were being held by Khepera in separate parts of the  
palace. This made it hard for us to stage a rescue. We are few in  
number. I was about to tell you that we had chosen the most important  
one to rescue." Morphan said as he sat down at the table.  
  
"Not going to happen," O'Neill interrupted, his face set in  
determination. "We don't choose who's the most important. All my team  
are."  
  
"Admirable sentiments Colonel. Unfortunately Khepera's plans don't  
allow for sentiment. Our small numbers do not allow for sentiment. We  
could have rescued only one. If your friends had still been apart we  
would have had to make a decision. As it is, Khepera is bringing them  
together within the hour. The consolidation ceremony will bring  
together the main players in Khepera's army, and his most important  
supporters. Your two friends are also main players in this ceremony.  
They can no longer be rescued."  
  
O'Neill looked at Morphan with a mixture of relief and anger at the  
attitude. "So, my team haven't been...well you know..?" he asked.  
  
"Not yet. Your friends will be consolidated with their new implants at  
one ceremony. If we do not stop them from becoming new implants for  
Khepera, then all is lost. We have waited for this day so that we can  
take out all Khepera's top people in one place. Our small force has  
precluded an attack before now. His people have been too spread out.  
Some exist outside the palace and its environment. We will not miss  
this opportunity.   
Khepera would only bring everyone together when there is something  
everyone must see. Something everyone must fear. The consolidation  
ceremony is it.  
It is unfortunate that both your friends are involved in this. One would  
have sufficed. But their participation is essential. Our forces are  
too small, too scattered to mount separate attacks. One attack will be  
quite sufficient."  
  
"Hang on just a minute. 'One would have sufficed'? Sounds pretty final  
to me. Weren't you going to bother asking us what we thought?" O'Neill  
felt his anger rising. "You say you're going to take these people out?  
How? My people are in there too."  
  
"Casualties of a greater war, O'Neill. We in the Tok'ra have suffered  
many casualties through the centuries but all to a greater good. We ask  
your help to completely destroy the gathering. Join with us. Only then  
can we say we have destroyed potentially the most dangerous System Lord  
who lives."  
  
"You want our help. We get Carter and Teal'c out. No casualties, just  
out. Understood?" O'Neill said, his anger evident at the complete  
disregard for his officers.  
  
"Know this, O'Neill. We would do this alone. Your help is an added  
bonus. Rescuing your friends before destroying the gathering will  
jeopardise our plan. I cannot sanction it. Having your two friends on  
center stage is a fortunate distraction, which we need. Khepera will  
not hold the consolidation ceremony unless he has two perfect hosts.  
Your friends are these two hosts. Taking them out from under Khepera  
and then achieving a surprise attack is impossible." Morphan shook his  
head sadly. "I am disappointed in the Tau'ri. Sacrificing two people  
for the good of many worlds would be honourable. You do not view it  
this way?"  
  
"We kind of get attached to our friends," O'Neill replied and then  
looked across at Daniel.   
  
"Jack's right. We can't leave Sam and Teal'c in there. Surely there's  
a way?" Daniel asked, propping himself up, the green liquid making his  
pain ease now. He felt much better.  
  
"There is one," the voice said from the doorway.  
  
Two of Morphan's men flanked a small, diminutive, hooded figure, eyes  
burning as the hood lowered.  
  
"I may be able to help you," Selphic said simply as she stepped forward.  
  
O'Neill swung around and pulled the alien weapon to his hip. Morphan  
signalled for him to lower it.  
  
"Why does Selphic bother herself to visit with us?" he said and moved  
towards her.  
  
Selphic bowed. "Morphan mocks me. Your reputation far exceeds that of  
a mere lower caste," she said.  
  
Morphan drew a breath between his teeth. "When you are in my house you  
do not speak of people in such a tone, child."  
  
Selphic lowered her head. "It is not my intention to insult anyone,"  
she whispered and Daniel noticed a tear fall to the floor.  
  
Morphan nodded to his two guards to leave and put a hand on her  
shoulder.  
  
"Too long under Khepera's influence, child. No matter. You have  
offered your help to us. Come tell us what it is you would do," he  
said.  
  
Selphic eyed O'Neill warily and sat at the table opposite him.  
  
"I found your escape and removed the evidence," she said quietly. " I  
knew that you would find Morphan, or that he would find you."  
  
"Sweet," commented O'Neill and then raised an eyebrow as Morphan shot  
him a look. "And why did you do that?" he asked puzzled as to her  
motive.  
  
"Your friend offered us escape," she said quietly.  
  
"And which friend is that," O'Neill asked, raising his eyebrows.  
  
"The woman."  
  
"Good for Sam," Daniel muttered and he and O'Neill exchanged glances.  
  
"I cannot do anything for her, not now that Khepera will know what she  
is," Selphic said, her eyes hollow. "Her blood sample was contaminated.  
I cannot hide this from him. He will know that she has already been a  
host," she added.  
  
Morphan looked at O'Neill, his eyes narrowing. "She is the one who was  
Jolinar's host?" he asked.  
  
O'Neill nodded, curious that Morphan knew.  
  
"I have heard of her. We will use this to our advantage," Morphan said.  
"It will be a distraction."  
  
O'Neill looked up. "Now hang on just a darn minute. Using my officer  
as a distraction isn't in the game plan."  
  
Morphan raised his hand for silence. "Khepera will lose his temper when  
he finds out that your friend is no longer pure. At that moment we must  
make our move, when his concentration and that of his guards is  
distracted. We can help her to escape at that time. There will be no  
argument."  
  
O'Neill shrugged. He knew one thing. When Khepera found out the truth,  
he'd be real pissed with Carter. O'Neill knew that he had to make sure  
he was ready to take out Khepera right then. No mistakes. No messing.  
Carter's life depended on it.  
  
Selphic rose. "Khepera made me. He made me suffer. He cares little  
for his creations. We are useful only when he deems that we are. I  
want him to pay for that. I want his people to know. Give me this  
chance and I will help you. I will help with the distraction at the  
ceremony. Give Zophra, give me the chance to escape and we will help  
you free your friends," she pleaded, her eyes darting from Morphan to  
O'Neill.  
  
Morphan pulled Selphic's veil back across her face and signalled for his  
two guards to escort her back to the palace.  
  
"If you are telling the truth then we will help you. If you are lying  
and this is some form of treachery, then you will wish you had died  
here, standing before me. Do you know of the catacombs?"   
  
Selphic nodded, swallowing, her eyes widening at the word.  
  
"Those who live down there would love a new companion. Do I make myself  
clear?" he said flatly.  
  
Selphic turned to leave.  
  
As she moved, Morphan put a hand on her shoulder and turned her back  
towards him.  
  
"Those who haunt the catacombs would come for you wherever you are. If  
you deceive us, I will send them for you."  
  
Selphic nodded and shuddered as she left.  
  
"Those who haunt the catacombs?" O'Neill repeated quizzically, looking  
at Daniel, his mind turning over what he'd heard.  
  
Morphan turned to them both. "There are more inhabitants of this world  
than you would know," he said, his words full of meaning and threat.  
  
  
  
PART SEVEN  
  
  
Teal'c stood on the steps next to the throne, his hands bound in front  
of him. His size was equally matched, by two large human-reptile  
guards flanking him. One guard held Teal'c's staff to one side.  
His SGC jacket had disappeared, along with his tee shirt. Draped across  
his chest, he wore a red and gold belt, inlaid with a single scarab near  
to the shoulder. He stared directly ahead, emotionless.  
  
The chamber was full. Mainly reptilian human composites, but there were  
a few notable exceptions. Older men and a few women. Pure human stock,  
attractive and well-dressed. They were whispering to one another  
animatedly. Some were pointing excitedly at Teal'c. A total hush fell  
over the room as the door opened.  
  
Sam walked into the room ahead of her escort, her head held defiantly.  
Zophra and Selphic had disappeared some while back. The four guards  
however had not. She saw Teal'c and her heart leaped. He was safe, for  
the moment at least.  
  
Teal'c's eyes flicked towards her, acknowledging her briefly. She  
returned the look, puzzled. Was this a pretence, this mask of  
indifference? She couldn't be sure.  
  
"Teal'c," she called, willing to take a chance. The crowd let out a  
collective gasp. The chosen should not communicate with one another.  
The handle of her guard's weapon pushed her fairly and squarely in her  
back, causing her to grunt with discomfort and move forward. She  
guessed the rule about touching her, only stood firm when there was  
anyone to notice what was happening. Seemingly the guard felt safe at  
the moment.  
  
"Silence in the chamber," the guard said for all to hear, his thick  
almost guttural voice barely distinguishable as human. Sam guessed that  
combining the DNA of two entirely different species had resulted in a  
strange assortment of vocal chords in the recipient.  
  
Teal'c remained still although he longed to acknowledge her call. He  
was biding his time as she had thought. He knew just one thing. No one  
was going to implant him with anything. No one. He'd die first.  
  
The guard pushed Sam to the steps and forced her to climb them. She  
stopped as she drew opposite Teal'c, the throne between them. Her  
guards pulled her jacket from her shoulders and took her hands, binding  
them in front of her, just as they had Teal'c.  
  
Khepera made his appearance within minutes and acknowledged his other  
guests as he passed them. Stopping to touch a woman's face or squeeze a  
man's hand. His presence seemed to fill them with a reverence. Sam  
marvelled at the Goa'uld skill for manipulation. Sycophantic pandering  
was an emotional display Sam had seen in subjects of other System Lords  
she'd encountered, although admittedly fear was the usual emotion they  
displayed.   
  
He turned to his audience, a benign expression of contrived love on his  
face. They applauded softly.   
  
Sam raised her eyes to the ceiling in frustration. She longed to tell  
them who they were really dealing with. That he'd slit their throats if  
they dared to defy him. She knew better though, that if she were to  
stand a chance of getting herself and her friends out of there, she had  
to stay as calm as Teal'c was.  
  
Khepera drew a hand swiftly to silence them.  
  
"My subjects, I called you here today to witness the birth of our new  
empire. The birth of a new beginning for all of you. The promised days  
which I foretold to you are now upon us. My armies will increase  
thousand fold. The armies which I created for you to lead, will stand  
before the Ring of water and take my kingdom through to the other side.  
In confidence. Unbeatable. Strong. Witness what I have promised you.  
Witness what these years of cleansing those who did not belong here have  
made. The Great ones on the other side of the Ring have sent these  
creatures to me in return for our sacrifices. We sent them our weakest.  
We sent them only those in our society who would fail us. Look what we  
are sent in return. As it was written. As I promised you. We will be  
strong. We will move forward. Witness and wonder."  
  
The throng applauded louder this time and then knelt as one. A union of  
people who understood nothing more than this was their God, their  
leader. Anything he said was true. He had always promised them more  
and now he was about to deliver his promise. They cared for little  
else. They were the remaining people, the chosen ones. Those who had  
given up their very neighbor, in the hope of appeasing a God who both  
strangely terrified them and yet gave them hope. They feared him and  
loved him unconditionally.  
  
These were the worst of their species and Khepera knew it. Devious,  
self-centred and traitorous to their own kind. Survivors. So like the  
Goa'uld he himself was. He looked at their faces and saw reflected  
there a mirror image. It satisfied his vanity and his lust for power.  
He gazed at the faces of his highest ranking composites. To have  
created them himself. To have crafted them from other creatures. He  
felt a warm sense of satisfaction, of being a creator in his own right.  
Once today was done he would be more powerful than ever.  
  
He turned to look at the two humans who were about to bring about his  
dreams, and his feeling of power increased. Nothing was going to stop  
him. Nothing.  
  
Khepera moved past Sam and slowly drew a hand up towards her face as he  
did so. She moved her head away, the guards gripping her tightly and  
forcing her nearer to him. He smiled briefly and waved them back. "No  
matter. She will come when I ask," he said and turned to look  
admiringly at Teal'c.  
"My Jaffa", he said quietly, and ran a finger down the belt which was  
draped across Teal'c's shoulder . Teal'c neither flinched nor reacted  
facially. He was waiting for his moment.  
  
Khepera sat down on the seat, which was his throne and spread his robe  
to the side. The crowd below him kneeling in stunned silence, awaiting  
whatever it was their God was about to deliver.  
  
Khepera clapped his hands and the doors opened. Through them six hooded  
figures appeared. Two were carrying black boxes bound with gold thread.  
The boxes were placed on the steps at Khepera's feet as four of the  
figures withdrew and knelt. Selphic pulled her hood back and bowed.  
Zophra stood beside her, his hood flicking back from his head.  
  
"My Lord. The implant awaits its host," Selphic said, her veil  
concealing her features.  
  
Khepera beckoned to her gently. "Come my child and deliver to me the  
miracle which you have made possible. Come and allow your God to bestow  
on you his grateful thanks."  
  
Selphic moved forwards and climbed the steps, the black box now in her  
outstretched hands. As she neared his feet she knelt and opened the lid  
of the box carefully. She heard Sam's sharp intake of breath but  
ignored it, although her heart went out to the woman who witnessed what  
it was she was about to receive. Her hand gently reached inside the box  
and tenderly withdrew the occupant. The crowd shuddered as one.  
  
Khepera put his hand out and took the creature which nestled in  
Selphic's hand and pulled it towards him. He looked at it lovingly.  
Centuries of work. Centuries of waiting. Now he was about to allow his  
most treasured creation to have the life it desired. To complete its  
destiny within a human host, a perfect human host. He held his hand up  
and rose to his feet.  
  
"See this woman. See that she is perfect. A woman with flaxen hair. A  
woman so different from you all that her beauty shall be a beacon of  
light in my palace." He smiled at Sam and then rose from his throne.  
  
"Behold your destiny," he said and turning to Sam he beckoned her  
closer. She stepped back but was pushed forward by the guard who  
gripped her arms. Nearer to Khepera. Nearer to the creature.  
  
Sam's heart sank and she felt revulsion well up in her, but she steeled  
herself for what was to happen to her. She felt helpless and yet  
empowered. Empowered from within to withstand whatever Khepera was  
going to do.   
  
He stretched out his other hand and grabbed her behind the neck, forcing  
her to come closer. He smiled at her and then she watched his eyes  
start to glow. Sam saw the creature struggle in his hand. A creature  
that seemed to be made from something which shouldn't, couldn't exist.  
Around four inches in length and two in width, it had a reptilian torso  
and beetle-like head. Its four legs ended in minute but deadly claws  
and its fanged jaws opened and shut, carrying a pitiful mewing sound as  
it searched the air around it with long antenna. It looked as though  
someone had thrown it together. A misfit which was trying to achieve  
more, but which couldn't. Not without one essential ingredient, a host.  
Sam felt her head being turned slowly to face Khepera. She took his  
eyes and locked with them, defiantly, unswervingly.  
  
Khepera's eyes glowed brighter and then faded, his hand containing the  
creature moving aside, ready to bring it closer when the time was right.  
Sam felt his grip on her neck tighten. His face drew nearer to her.  
Then his eyes darkened, widening. She felt his breath brush her cheeks  
briefly and then he pushed her hard to the floor, letting his grip go, a  
single strangulated groan coming from his lips.  
  
Sam raised her head and saw Khepera point and snap his fingers. Two  
guards moved down the steps.  
  
Selphic found herself unceremoniously being hauled up the steps and  
passed to Khepera who held her at arm's length.  
  
"You deceived me. You were my own creation, my very own. You would  
deceive me? This woman, this abomination is not pure. This human  
creature has been a host before. Tell me you did not know of it. Tell  
me that I am wrong." Khepera was almost screaming for her to answer.  
The crowd stayed in shocked silence, witnessing something they hadn't  
expected.  
  
Selphic raised her eyes to meet his, defiance mirrored in them.  
"Yes, I knew of it. Her blood contained a substance which I have only  
ever seen in yours. I knew that she was not the pure human which you  
wanted."  
  
A tear found its way from her eye and she wiped her hand fiercely across  
her face. Then she slowly pulled her veil from her face, so that he  
could see her expression of regret.  
  
"Your God is unkind," she announced suddenly and, pulling herself from  
his grip, turned to face the crowd, revealing her disfigurement. As  
she pulled her hood from her head, Sam glimpsed the true extent of  
Khepera's genetic experiment, and she winced inwardly for the pain, the  
betrayal the woman obviously felt.  
  
Selphic stood in front of the audience in defiance. "Your God is not  
perfect," she said and then fell forward, a shriek of pain leaving her  
lips as she tumbled down the steps.  
  
Zophra rushed to her side in seconds, his eyes raised to meet his God's,  
a look of hatred and fear brushing his face.  
  
Khepera lowered his hand, the golden ribbons of the Goa'uld device  
draped across his fingers and palm. As Selphic lay gasping for breath  
beneath him, he reached for the first box and placed the creature within  
it. He reached for the second box and lifted the two together  
reverently.  
  
He looked at Selphic and Zophra with feigned pity. "You will both die  
for your treachery. You will die long and painful deaths."  
  
Sam found herself unguarded and unwatched, her two guards intent on  
Selphic and Zophra. Khepera moved towards Teal'c, his back to Sam,  
fingering the second box intently, his face murderous.  
  
Sam pulled herself quietly up the steps and towards where her friend and  
his guards stood. She wasn't about to let Teal'c be the next victim.  
She wasn't going to let Selphic's pain be for nothing.  
  
The hooded figure, which suddenly took the steps two at a time, launched  
itself at Khepera from behind, knocking him off balance and sending him  
clattering into his own throne. Khepera let out a scream of frustration  
as he turned his hand towards the attacker, a gold beam of light  
cascading from the ribbon device.  
  
O'Neill dove sideways, his hood pushed back from his head. He rolled  
off the steps down to the floor and avoided the beam by inches. Daniel  
moved forward and pushed his hood back from his face. He launched  
himself at the first of Teal'c's guards, pushing him backwards off the  
dais. Teal'c sideswiped the second guard with his bound hands and then  
knocked Daniel sideways to avoid the beam that Khepera was about to aim  
in his direction. Daniel winced, the nagging pain in his wound reminding  
him that he wasn't a hundred percent yet.  
  
The beam didn't materialise. There was a grunt of pain, which came from  
the System Lord instead. Carter's bound arms tightened around his neck,  
gripping him until his eyes bulged and his body sagged. The two fell  
forwards down the steps in a flailing of arms and legs. With them the  
two boxes clattered to the floor, spilling their contents.  
  
The composite creature scuttled swiftly from the open box, its antennae  
searching the air around it for life, for a possible host. Sam rolled  
sideways, deftly avoiding it and then leapt to her feet. The blast of  
energy raced between her and Khepera, exploding the composite into a  
cloud of tiny pieces. Then Teal'c turned his staff weapon towards  
Khepera, who screamed in anger at seeing his creation destroyed, and  
clawed at the steps, pulling himself towards them, grabbing at the  
contents of the second box in desperation. Teal'c stood calmly and aimed  
his staff.   
  
"No! Destroy me and the contents of this box will destroy you all!"  
screamed Khepera as he clutched the box to him.  
  
He held the vial which he withdrew from the box and locked his eyes on  
Teal'c. Then turned to look from Sam to Daniel and then to O'Neill.  
  
O'Neill waved for Teal'c to lower the staff.  
  
"Tau'ri, my people will take you," Khepera said calmly and confidently.  
  
O'Neill shook his head and grinned. "Don't think so," he replied.  
  
Khepera pulled himself up and turned to look at his people. They stood  
in submission, their hands in the air, their faces resigned, beaten.  
Hooded figures stood behind them, weapons aimed directly at them.   
  
Morphan stepped forwards.  
  
"The Tau'ri and the Tok'ra, Khepera. Together such an alliance is  
unbeatable. Your death will be but a whisper on the wind. After all,  
you are dead already, don't forget," Morphan said and raised his hand, a  
similar ribbon device nestling in his palm, the beam starting to  
protrude from its surface.  
  
Khepera sneered and lifted the vial towards him. "Destroy me and this  
vial will be released into this room. The nano-creatures will invade  
your very souls. The genetic imprint, mine, will spread throughout your  
bodies and then beyond. My control will be complete. Even beyond death  
I will control you." He laughed and lifted the lid from the vial.  
  
O'Neill turned to Morphan, his eyebrows raised. "I guess this wasn't  
part of the plan?"   
  
  
  
  
PART EIGHT  
  
  
  
'You have taught us that we are nothing. You have shown us to revile  
life itself. We are those whom you despise, those whom you would shut  
from existence. You have taught us well. You have taught us to  
extinguish that which is bad. That which is rotten. So be it.'  
  
  
oOo  
  
  
  
  
Tornak's arm was gripped tightly as he hovered helplessly behind a  
pillar in the far side of the room, his heart thumping loudly in his  
chest, his stomach churning at what was happening in front of him.  
  
"Silence, boy," the hiss of a strange voice spoke into his ear. Tornak  
could feel the hot breath and blade at his throat and he flinched.  
  
"Another movement like that and it'll cost you your vocal chords," the  
voice whispered, almost inaudibly.  
  
Tornak froze.  
  
"Now listen carefully. Listen to the only hope you've got of ever  
seeing your friends again," it continued. "There's about to be a  
distraction. When it starts, get the Tau'ri and your friends through  
the passageway to the Ring of water. Get them as far away from this  
place as it's possible to get them. Is that understood?"  
  
Tornak hesitated. If he nodded he could have his throat slit.   
  
"I'll take your silence as good sense and an agreement," the voice said.  
"Now turn slowly around."  
  
Tornak felt the hand move from his throat and the stranger move slightly  
away. He started to turn slowly and then felt a hand clamp over his  
lips as he confronted the creature who stood before him. The scream  
started to move from his throat and make its way to his mouth but the  
hand held tight, preventing the sound from escaping into the room.  
Tornak felt a gag move to his throat to follow but swallowed it back.  
  
"Find me offensive? So do I. It is of no consequence. Take these  
words to your friends and to the Tau'ri. Tell them that Khepera will be  
no more. Khepera dies in his own world. A world of his own making. A  
death of his own making. We will ensure that the Ring ceases once you  
have passed through it. We will ensure that no more are taken from this  
place and enslaved. That no other creature suffers as we have. Tell  
them that."  
  
Tornak nodded and then tentatively held out his hand. The creature  
gazed at him for a moment, hesitating and then slowly held out his hand  
to grasp the boy's.   
  
"You're the Miscreants?" Tornak whispered as he took in the sight of  
something, which for him, was a folktale come into being.  
  
"Not our word," came the simple, quiet reply. "We are those of whom you  
speak, yes," he added.  
  
"From the catacombs?"   
  
"Yes, that is where we have lived out our miserable lives. What have we  
been doing for all these years? We have survived. Beneath the palace,  
far down beneath. We roam deeper than you have ventured. We are...a  
community," he said softly, with a tinge of sadness in his voice.  
  
"Why now?" Tornak whispered.  
  
"Because we have been waiting. We know it is our time because Morphan  
has called for us."  
  
"I....." Tornak wanted to know so much more but felt a finger placed on  
his lips and the creature shook his head slowly.  
  
"There is no more time. Ask Morphan. When you have left this place he  
will tell you about us. Let your lips speak our names with pride and  
not with revulsion."  
  
Tornak nodded, and saw that through the deformed features of the  
creature who stood in front of him, there was a face filled with pain,  
filled with regret. A creature which had steeled itself for what was to  
come.  
  
  
oOo  
  
  
Khepera stood triumphantly, his fingers caressing the vial, his ultimate  
salvation. They wouldn't dare kill him, wouldn't dare to risk  
endangering themselves. He held the final solution in his grasp.  
  
O'Neill looked to Morphan for some sort of clue that he knew this would  
happen, that this was all a part of the plan, but the Tok'ra's face was  
unreadable, implacable, staring at Khepera, daring him to make the first  
move.  
  
Daniel stepped forward. O'Neill moved to grab his arm. Sam felt a  
strangulated warning die on her lips and Teal'c fingered his staff more  
carefully.  
  
"Actually I don't think you'd be able to infect the whole room with one  
vial," he said, feigning seriousness, feigning a carefree attitude when  
deep down he was scared as hell, knowing that in reality one false move  
and the vial would infect the surroundings just as easily as a super  
virus.  
  
"Ah, Dr Jackson. You are as clever as you are foolish. Do you not  
think I know exactly what this vial will do? This is all my creation,  
borne through Selphic, and she is mine too. No one who is borne of my  
creation can leave my service, no one."  
  
"Your arrogance is your downfall."  
  
A collective gasp from the room, and the sound of small, strangulated  
sobs of horror from several women in the audience.  
  
SG1 turned in unison to gaze on the speaker.  
  
If miscreant was the word used to describe the group of people who stood  
before them, it was inaccurate. If monster had been used it might have  
been more accurate, and yet these were no real monsters. As deranged  
scientists in fiction had created their sad pathetic creatures, so  
Khepera had created these. That however was where the similarity ended.  
There was no pride in his creations, no sense of awe in making something  
which lived and breathed. These people, these misshapen experiments,  
these creatures, had been left to die, left to fend for themselves.  
Discarded, thrown away, as a bad apple is thrown when it is shown to be  
rotten.  
  
These were Khepera's forgotten children.  
  
Khepera paled visibly, stepping backwards, moving up the steps towards  
his throne, his fingers clutching the vial tighter, as though somehow it  
could protect him from seeing what was in front of him.  
"I will use this," he threatened, his eyes glowing as his anger and fear  
increased and became more than two emotions, they became one.  
  
The first creature moved towards him, the others closing in behind.  
  
"You cannot do anything to hurt us," the creature said. "You have done  
all that you can do to us already," he added.  
As they neared the steps, the creature turned and nodded at Tornak who  
stepped from behind the pillar.  
  
"Do it," the creature said and then turned back to face Khepera, who was  
clambering upwards, fingering at his throne, grabbing at the symbol of  
his power as if in some way it could protect him.  
  
Tornak raced forwards and touched Morphan on the arm who swung around.  
  
"Tornak, it must be time," he said and smiled benignly at the boy, who  
whispered briefly in his ear. Morphan nodded and smiled and then  
gathered his people with a sweep of his arm. He looked at O'Neill.  
  
"We leave," he said simply and watched as Tornak moved towards the  
narrow tunnel, encircled by the symbol of the Gate.   
  
Morphan's people ushered Khepera's entire audience swiftly up into the  
tunnel one by one. Tornak beckoned to SG1 to follow.  
  
"We're leaving?" O'Neill asked as he glanced at Khepera and then raised  
his eyebrows at Morphan.  
  
"Our side of this is done," Morphan replied. "Khepera's children will  
do the rest," he added and then ushered them speedily through the  
tunnel, hastening Selphic and Zophra with him.  
  
"Guess this was all part of the plan," Daniel said to Teal'c as they  
moved at speed towards the tunnel.  
  
As Sam pulled herself up into the tunnel she allowed herself a single  
glance backwards. Khepera's children were encircling the steps leading  
to the throne, their eyes intent on their prey.  
  
  
oOo  
  
  
The chamber leading to the Gate, despite its gloom, looked welcoming  
compared to where they'd just come from.  
  
One of Morphan's men leapt onto the platform and dialled up a planet of  
their choosing.  
  
"O'Neill, I ask this of you. We of the Tok'ra will take Khepera's  
generals and his supporters to a place where we can decide what to do  
with them. We ask that you wait until all of us have passed through  
before activating the device to your own world." Morphan said as he  
faced O'Neill by the Gate. "We ask that you protect the Gate for us  
until we have gone."  
  
"You're going to kill them, aren't you?" said Sam as she moved up behind  
O'Neill.  
  
Morphan's eyes narrowed and he looked at her silently, studying her  
face.  
  
"The Tok'ra high council will take that decision," he replied and then  
added "You are the one who was host to Jolinar?"  
  
Sam nodded.  
  
"Then I am honoured," he said and bowed slightly.   
  
Sam looked bemused but nodded her head in brief response.  
  
"If the memories of Jolinar are as strong in her as I believe them to  
be, then you must keep her safe," he said turning to O'Neill. "She may  
yet prove to be your greatest asset in the fight which you are going to  
face."  
  
Sam looked down, embarrassed.  
  
O'Neill glanced at her and reached out and shook Morphan's hand. "We  
will," he said simply.  
  
"Um..could I ask something..before you go?" Daniel said as he moved  
forwards.  
  
Morphan nodded and turned to face him.  
  
"Where were those creatures living? You mentioned catacombs earlier,  
but I haven't seen anything which refers to them. I mean there's  
nothing mentioned of them in any inscriptions and Khepera sure looked  
surprised to see them," Daniel ventured.  
  
"They lived in Tok'ra tunnels beneath this place. They were believed by  
Khepera to be dead and indeed many were, but when the Tok'ra came to  
this place in secret many years ago, we created the tunnels and saved  
those who Khepera abandoned. Abandoned because they were deformed, not  
to his liking. Now they will have their revenge. That is all they have  
ever wanted. We owed them that. Life owed them that." Morphan looked  
down and then his voice changed into a deeper tone as his head rose.  
  
"Tau'ri. Those creatures believe that they can destroy this Gate.  
Khepera is stronger than they think. I fear for us all if Khepera  
manages to live. Go to your world and send a device of destruction back  
through. Destroy this complex and all that surrounds it. Ensure that  
what has been started is finished. Send word to us that this deed has  
been done."  
  
"But we'll destroy those creatures along with Khepera," Daniel protested  
and looked at O'Neill. "Jack, you can't do that."  
  
O'Neill locked eyes with Morphan and a silent understanding passed  
between them.  
  
The creatures knew all along that they would be susceptible to the vial.  
They'd bluffed so that everyone else could escape. Once Khepera  
released it they would become his servants, under his control. For all  
O'Neill knew it might be too late already. The creatures were relying  
on them, on the Tok'ra, to ensure that their agony would end this day.  
  
Morphan bowed, his eyes acknowledging the trust which they'd  
established, and then turned to follow Tornak up the steps and through  
the Gate. As soon as the field had dispersed Sam started dialling home.  
  
Teal'c turned suddenly, his staff pointing towards the ante-chamber.  
  
O'Neill's eyes narrowed and he pulled his rifle from his back. "Carter,  
speed it up," he barked as he heard the footsteps, the shuffling sound.  
  
Sam pressed the last symbol and breathed a sigh of relief as the final  
chevron locked into place, the Gate activated. She moved from the DHD,  
her rifle swung around and in her hands in seconds.  
  
"Let's get out of here, campers," O'Neill shouted and moved towards the  
Gate.  
  
The strange murmurings, the gutteral sounds came from three of the  
creatures who sloped into view from the ante-chamber. Their eyes  
burned, not only with pain but with hatred. A hatred only Khepera could  
have instilled there.  
  
"Warn Hammond what we've gotta do," O'Neill shouted as Teal'c reached  
the Gate first and turned briefly to fire his staff into the middle of  
the creatures.  
  
Teal'c leapt through swiftly followed by Daniel, who glanced behind to  
see the three creatures moving towards O'Neill. His look of dismay and  
warning shout, frozen on his lips as he disappeared.  
  
Sam raised her weapon and fired a round into their midst. Their shouts  
of dismay as one of their number fell forward with a grunt was followed  
by a murderous screech.  
  
A blade raced across the chamber closing the gap between the creatures  
and Sam within seconds. She dropped, clutching her leg as it imbedded  
in her thigh.  
  
O'Neill raced towards Sam and grabbed her under the arm. Half dragging  
her, he pulled her through the Gate, turning to fire another round into  
the small group of creatures who were hovering at the edge of the gate  
hesitating, looking in awe at this mammoth ring.  
  
"Close the Iris," O'Neill shouted as he dragged Sam down the ramp and  
deposited her at the bottom. "Can we get a medic here?" he added as he  
bent down to pull her swiftly out of the way of a vehicle which was  
being positioned at the bottom of the ramp, its deadly payload being  
placed on top.  
  
The sound of sickening thuds as the first of the creatures hit the iris,  
made Sam's stomach churn. She lifted haunted eyes to O'Neill who nodded  
sympathetically, and bent to look at the knife and its wound.  
  
Daniel stood, his hand covering his mouth, as he stared at the Iris and  
mentally cursed what they were about to do.   
  
When the thudding had stopped, the room went silent. A knife-cutting  
solid silence.  
  
O'Neill looked up and locked eyes with General Hammond. Hammond nodded.  
  
"Send it through," he said into a microphone and the chevrons started to  
engage again.  
  
Janet Fraiser appeared in seconds and assessed Sam's condition. She had  
her patient swiftly put on a gurney and was about to take her to the  
infirmary.   
  
"I have to see this," Sam said, pleadingly, gritting her teeth, her hand  
gripping Janet's arm. The pain could wait.   
  
Janet nodded at the two soldiers and escorted Sam up to the main command  
room where a view from the vehicle's on board camera could be seen.  
  
"We don't even know if Khepera's still there or gone," said Daniel to no  
one in particular.  
  
"We know squat, Daniel. We still gotta do this," O'Neill added.  
  
The vehicle's camera sprang into action as soon as it reached the other  
side of the gate.  
  
The view was one of devastation. Bodies strewn across the chamber floor  
in front of the gate. Not a single movement. The camera panned across  
the chamber. The creatures appeared to have attacked one another, a  
madness taking them. Or was it a realisation of what they'd become? In  
their final agonies had they realised that the only way to defeat  
Khepera was to destroy themselves, before it was too late? O'Neill put  
his hand to his mouth and watched the picture in front of him with a  
sense of great loss.  
  
"Do we detonate?" the technician asked as he looked intently at Hammond.   
  
Hammond turned to O'Neill.  
"Your call, Colonel," he said.  
  
O'Neill put a hand up for silence and moved closer to the screen, his  
eyes narrowing.   
  
"Can you direct the camera to focus in on one of the bodies?" he asked  
the technician.  
  
"Yes, sir. Which one?" the young technician asked.  
  
"That one," O'Neill said and moved to the screen and tapped one of the  
bodies lying nearest to the Gate.  
  
As the camera focussed in, movement was caught. Slight, subtle, but  
movement nevertheless.  
  
Khepera's eyes flicked open and he raised his head, aware of the camera  
suddenly. His face darkened and he raised himself up on one arm, his  
other hand lifting to activate the ribbon device and destroy the camera  
lens.  
  
"Let's do it," O'Neill said as he stared Khepera in the eyes. The look  
of haunted resignation, of defeat, which had come both painful and  
unexpected, lay across his face and reflected in the dark eyes.  
  
As the screen flashed and went white, O'Neill turned and caught Daniel's  
eye. A look of solidarity, and of understanding passed between them.  
No recriminations at what they'd done. Daniel had seen the devastation  
only Khepera could have caused, and the justification for what they'd  
done was no longer needed. The creatures were at peace. Finally,  
irrevocably at peace.  
Daniel understood that.   
  
  
THE END  
  
  
Feedback to the author:- Julia@wrenlea.demon.co.uk 


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